Respiratory properties of developing bean and pea leaves

The rate of O₂ uptake in the dark in Phaseolus vulgaris leaves decreased during development, largely due to a decline in the activity and capacity of the cytochrome path. However, the capacity of the alternative path remained more or less constant with leaf expansion, and thus percentage cyanide resistance of respiration increased with leaf expansion. Similar trends were observed with mitochondria isolated from leaves of Pisum sativum. -Authors