Abstract
Development of a model system for mode of action studies of $SO_2$ was attempted with a plant tissue. Leaf disks, 1.0cm diameter, cut from the lamina of lettuce leaves, were floated on the testing medium and placed in light or dark condition to investigate the discoloration pattern with various sources of $SO_2$. Discoloration of leaf disks tended to be more serious with higher concentrations of $SO_2$ and on exposure to the light. Leaf disks were more severely discolored at lower pH with constant SO2 concentration. These discoloration patterns were highly reproducible and similar in all sources of $SO_2$. Spectrophotometric evidence suggested that light-mediated discoloration of leaf disks in the presence of $SO_2$ might occur mainly through chlorophyll ${\alpha}$ degradation.