Chlorophyll extracts and needle sections of Pinus taeda L. revealed that the photosynthetic apparatus is disrupted by winter cold. Chloroplasts break down, and chlorophyll is released to the cytoplasm. In many cases chlorophyll is converted chlorophyllin. Iodine staining for starch indicated that the photosynthetic apparatus is ineffective during much of the period when chlorophyll is free in the cytoplasm and the chloroplasts are in a disrupted condition. Variation within trees and between clones showed that this winter chlorosis and disruption of the photosynthetic apparatus is affected by both the environment and the genotype. Differences in duration and degree of disruption of the photosynthetic apparatus could well account for some of the differences in dry matter production by conifer genotypes.
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Perry et al. (1966) studied this question.