Photosynthetic activity and photoinhibition in seedlings of red pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) grown from low dose $\gamma$-irradiated seeds

The seedling height, leaf width and leaf length of pepper increased in plants grown from seeds irradiated with the low dose of 4 Gy. The $O_2$ evolution in the 4 Gy irradiation group was 1.5 times greater than the control. Pmax was decreased with increasing illumination time by 20% in the control, while hardly decreased in the 4 Gy irradiation group. Fv/Fm was decreased with increasing illumination time by 50% after 4 hours, while Fv/Fm in the 4 Gy irradiation group was decreased by 37% of inhibition, indicating that the low dose $\gamma$ radiation increased resistance of plants to photoinhibition.