what is the meaning of Chlorophyll a/ chorophyll b ratio in green algae? - (Aug/23/2009 )

hi, could anyone tell me the physiological meaning of the ratio of Chlorophyll a/ Chlorophyll b in green algae?

Is there a normal range for this ratio or for the chlorophyll content in green algae?

many thanks in advance!

for those who care, ratio is pretty stable but can be affected by light intensity. it's lower in marine algae vs land plants. do a simple search on google or yahoo (you don't even need to do a pubmed), there's enough there to inform.

have a nice day - and a beer

Thank you very much, eberthella!

I did google the topic and saw what you mentioned, thanks again for kindly answering my question.

I intended to know if the ratio has more meanings, because the ratio in my algal culture which grow under almost same conditions (same light intensity, same culture medium, only from different batches) did fluctuate greatly , from aroud 2 to 3.

What was the reproducibility / precision of your measurement? That is, if you cultured a bunch of times under the same condtions, what kind of variability do you see ?

remember ther Alamo!