Effects of the relative extrachloroplastic concentrations of inorganic phosphate, 3-phosphoglycerate, and dihydroxyacetone phosphate on the rate of starch synthesis in isolated spinach chloroplasts.

The effect of external inorganic phosphate (Pi) on starch synthesis in isolated spinach (Spinacia oleracea American Hybrid No. 424) chloroplasts in the presence of millimolar concentrations of 3-phosphoglycerate (PGA) and/or dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DAP) was examined. Whereas CO(2) fixation was relatively constant as the ratio of the external phosphate to the PGA + DAP varied from 1:3 to 3:1, starch synthesis varied from 17% to 2% of the CO(2) fixation rate. With DAP alone, maximal starch synthesis was about 10% of the CO(2) fixation rate. The data demonstrate that the Pi/(PGA + DAP) ratio in the cytoplasm of plant cells could serve to regulate the flow of newly fixed carbon into starch without alterations in the rate of CO(2) fixation.