A quantitative description of fluorescence excitation spectra in intact bean leaves greened under intermittent light

We present a simple approach for the calculation of in vivo fluorescence excitation spectra from measured absorbance spectra of the isolated pigments involved. Taking into account shading of the pigments by each other, energy transfer from carotene to chlorophyll a, and light scattering by the leaf tissue, we arrive at a model function with 6 free parameters. Fitting them to the measured fluorescence excitation spectrum yields good correspondence between theory and experiment, and parameter estimates which agree with independent measurements. The results are discussed with respect to the origin and the interpretation of in vivo excitation spectra in general.