To investigate the influence of the mesophyll cells on stomatal opening in response to white light, the segments of isolated epidermis were transferred on partly exposed mesophyll cells of a leaf and stomatal apertures were measured. Transferring the isolated epidermis on partly exposed mesophyll cells of a leaf caused a marked increase on stomatal apertures while stomata in isolated epidermis incubated in MES buffer hardly opened. Mesophyll infiltration with photosynthetic inhibitors (DCMU, DCCD, NaN3) was performed to elucidate the correlation between stomatal apertures and the degree of photosynthetic activity. It was found that transferring the isolated epidermis on partly exposed mesophyll cells of a leaf caused an increase of stomatal apertures depending on the degree of photosynthetic activities. In NaN3 infiltrated leaf discs, transferring the fresh isolated epidermis on partly exposed mesophyll cells of a leaf showed no significant effect, but a slight increase on stomatal apertures. Isolated epidermis alone did not respond to the light properly, but if it was closely contacted with mesophyll cells, the stomata regained the ability of the light response. Therefore, it could be suggested that stomatal apertures were related with the degree of photosynthetic activity in the mesophyll cells.

• Joon Sang Lee(Department of Biological Education, Chungbuk National University) Corresponding Author