Abstract
In the beginning of the nineteenth century, de Saussure established that, for the formation of organic matter by green plants in the light, the amount of carbon dioxide assimilated was stoichiometrically related to the amount of cell material formed and molecular oxygen liberated. Since cell material was more reduced than carbon dioxide, it was generally believed that the oxygen produced originated from carbon dioxide. It was Ingenhousz who had shown in 1779 that only the green-pigmented parts, and not the colorless parts of the plants nor the animals, were capable of oxygen production in the light (Rabinowitch, 1945). We can understand, therefore, that the three characteristics of green color, carbon dioxide assimilation, and oxygen evolution conceptually became the fundamental properties of photoautotrophic organisms for the following 130 years.
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Pfennig, N. (1985). Stages in the Recognition of Bacteria Using Light as a Source of Energy. In: Leadbetter, E.R., Poindexter, J.S. (eds) Bacteria in Nature. Bacteria in Nature, vol 1. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6511-6_4
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