Low light conditions result in significantly increased
leaf length, leaf width, leaf area and growth duration,
and the increases are enhanced with a reduction of
light intensity (Ren et al, 2002; Ding et al, 2004). Leaf
area only increases by 5.76% under 50% of natural
light, however, it increases by 29.83% under 20% of
natural light. Conversely, mesophyll thickness and the
number of cells per square millimeter in leaves decrease
by 14.61% and 15.86%, respectively, when rice plants
are grown under 20% of natural light (Chonan, 1967).
Chlorophyll a and b are important pigments involved
in the absorption and transmission of solar energy,
with part of chlorophyll a involved in converting solar
energy into electrochemical energy (Wang, 2011).
Differences exist in the chlorophyll content produced