Abstract The Kok effect of photosynthesis was investigated in different tobacco mutants. It was found that the breaks in the light intensity curve were always at or around 1000 lux in all plants tested regardless of the unit sizes which differed by a factor of 10. It was concluded that the photo­ receptor responsible for the effect must be present in the wild type and the chlorophyll deficient mutants in the same amount and is probably not chlorophyll. Due to the fact that the light dependency of the Hill reaction in isolated tobacco chloroplasts also shows a break at or around the “Kok intensity” it was concluded that probably a structural change of the photochemical apparatus around 1000 lux contributes to the effect. Measurement of 180 2-uptake by mass spectrometry at low light intensity shows at low CO2-concentration an enhancement of 180 2-uptake again at/around 1000 lux indicating that photorespiration starts to function at the “Kok intensity”. Due to the fact that 180 2-uptake remains constant at high CO2-concentrations the break in the photosynthetic light intensity curve cannot be due to an inhibition of “dark respiration” at low light intensities.