A preliminary study of the internal gas composition of Lemna gibba L.

The internal atmosphere of gibbous as well as flat modifications of Lemna gibba G3 was determined by gas chromatography after cultivation in vitro under conditions of continuous light, A similar analysis was done on a gibbous strain of L. gibba collected in the field. The gaseous constituents of the air chambers were found to be N2, O2 and CO2. The CO2 concentration was approx, 1 % in gibbous forms of strain G3 as well as the field strain and approx. 3 % in flat forms of strain G3. The O2 concentrations tended to be slightly higher in the gibbous forms than in the flat. The CO2 to O2 ratio of the flat modification was much higher than in the gibbous forms. The remaining part of the internal atmosphere consisted of nitrogen. Methane and ethylene could not be detected.