Phenotyping of dark and light adapted barley plants by the fast chlorophyll a fluorescence rise OJIP

Chlorophyll a fluorescence of dark adapted leaves of barley plants (Hordeum vulgare L.) upon exposure to actinic light was measured. We compared the photosynthetic behaviour of ten cultivars of barley plants in the dark and light adapted states. A significant relationship between the light adaptation (S, to S, transition) of the photosynthetic Performance Index ((I)pI/(d)pI) and the normalised Area ((SM)-S-I/Sm-d) evaluated by the JIP-test was observed. The two parameters might provide a basis to rank the plants according to their tolerance to light stress conditions, i.e. the studied cultivars can be split into three groups with a different response to high light stress: tolerant, intermediate and sensitive.