Suspension cultured cells of the liverwort, Reboulia hemisphaerica and of the moss, Barbula unguiculata were independently subcultured in the medium containing 2% glucose in the dark or in the light for more than one year, and the photosynthetic activities of the final cultures were determined. Throughout the culture period light-grown cells of both species contained high amount of chlorophyll (4 to 34 μg mg(-1) dry weight) and showed a high photosynthetic activity (10 to 84 μmol O2 mg(-1) chlorophyll h(-1)). Dark-grown cells of R. hemisphaerica showed the same level of chlorophyll content and photosynthetic O2 evolving activity as light-grown cells. Although chlorophyll content in dark-grown B. unguiculata cells was ten-fold lower than that in light-grown cells, the photosynthetic activity of these dark-grown cells was higher than that of light-grown cells based on chlorophyll content.