what is the meaning of Chlorophyll a/ chorophyll b ratio in

[bunnyonline]

hi, could anyone tell me the physiological meaning of the ratio of Chlorophyll a/ Chlorophyll b in green algae?

Is there a normal range for this ratio or for the chlorophyll content in green algae?

many thanks in advance!

[mith]

see absorption spectrum

[MrMistery]

actually the chl a/chl b ratio is a ratio that tells you how much light the plant has been exposed too. If a plant is in the dark, it will want to make more chlorophyll so it can capture more of the scarce sunlight. Because of how a photosystem looks like (chl a in the middle, chl b at the periphery), the plant can only increase the amount of chl b (there is no way to throw some molecules in the middle of the photosystem). So as it accumulates more chl b, the ratio drops.

I am sure that each species has its own preferred ratio (for when light is plentiful), but this ratio is definitely dynamic. So no, I don't think there is a "normal" ratio for all green algae