Effect of photoreduction of the photosystem-II intermediary electron acceptor (pheophytin) on triplet state of carotenoids

O2-dependent electron flow, membrane energization and the mechanism of non-photochemical quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence

Recent progress in chlorophyll fluorescence research is reviewed, with emphasis on separation of photochemical and non-photochemical quenching coefficients (qP and qN) by the 'saturation pulse method'. This is part of an introductory talk at the Wageningen Meeting on 'The use of chlorophyll fluorescence and other non-invasive techniques in plant stress physiology'. The sequence of events is investigated which leads to down-regulation of PS II quantum yield in vivo, expressed in formation of qN. The role of O2-dependent electron flow for ΔpH- and qN-formation is emphasized. Previous conclusions on the rate of 'pseudocyclic' transport are re-evaluated in view of high ascorbate peroxidase activity observed in intact chloroplasts. It is proposed that the combined Mehler-Peroxidase reaction is responsible for most of the qN developed when CO2-assimilation is limited. Dithiothreitol is shown to inhibit part of qN-formation as well as peroxidase-induced electron flow. As to the actual mechanism of non-photochemical quenching, it is demonstrated that quenching is favored by treatments which slow down reactions at the PS II donor side. The same treatments are shown to stimulate charge recombination, as measured via 50 μs luminescence. It is suggested that also in vivo internal thylakoid acidification leads to stimulation of charge recombination, although on a more rapid time scale. A unifying model is proposed, incorporating reaction center and antenna quenching, with primary control of ΔpH at the PS II reaction center, involving radical pair spin transition and charge recombination to the triplet state in a first quenching step. In a second step, triplet excitation is trapped by zeaxanthin (if present) which in its triplet excited state causes additional quenching of singlet excited chlorophyll.

Mechanisms of chlorophyll fluorescence revisited: Prompt or delayed emission from photosystem II with closed reaction centers?

This paper proposes a model which correlates the exciton decay kinetics observed in picosecond fluorescence studies with the primary processes of charge separation in the reaction center of photosystem II. We conclude that the experimental results from green algae and chloroplasts from higher plants are inconsistent with the concept that delayed luminescence after charge recombination should account for the long-lived (approx. 2 ns) fluorescence decay component of closed photosystem II centers. Instead, we show that the experimental data are in agreement with a model in which the long-lived fluorescence is also prompt fluorescence. The model suggests furthermore that the rate constant of primary charge separation is regulated by the oxidation state of the quinone acceptor QA.

Reconstitution of energy transfer and electron transfer between solubilised pigment-protein complexes from thylakoid membranes. The role of acyl lipids

Solubilisation of thylakoid membranes from young leaves of Pisum sativum in the presence of Triton X-100 resulted in an almost complete loss of quenching of light-harvesting chlorophyll-protein (LHCP) fluorescence, as measured at 77°K. There were concomitant changes in the kinetics of light-saturation curves of electron transport from 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol/ascorbate to methyl viologen. These effects were accompenied by a physical dissociation of LHCP polypeptides from photosystem I (PSI) and photosystem II (PSII) polypeptides, as determined by polyacrylamide gel-electrophoresis. Detergent-dialysis in the presence of exogenous purified galactolipids, about 80% of which were linoleoyl molecular species, only partially reversed these effects. However, detergent-dialysis using the phospholipids, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylcholine, resulted in the substantial restoration of 77°K fluorescence quenching and the restoration of both emission spectra and electron transport kinetics of both Photosystems I and II that were typical of native membranes.

Electron transfer in photosystem II

The picture presently emerging from studies on the mechanism of photosystem II electron transport is discussed. The reactions involved in excitation trapping, charge separation and stabilization of the charge pair in the reaction center, followed by the reactions with the substrates, plastoquinone reduction and water oxidation, are described successively. Finally, a brief discussion on photosystem II heterogeneity is presented.

Magnetic field effects on photosynthetic reactions

When light impinges on photosynthetic material – a plant leaf, an alga or a photosynthetic bacterium – it is absorbed by an array of lightcollecting pigments. Through resonant energy transfer the absorbed quantum of light is transported to a trap, the reaction centre. Within such a trap, a specialized (bacterio)chlorophyll complex is able to eject from its excited state an electron. This electron is ‘captured’ by an adjacent acceptor, which in turn donates the electron to a second acceptor, and so on. Thus, light energy is converted into chemical energy which is ultimately used in the metabolic processes of the cell.