Alternative electron transport mediated by flavodiiron proteins is operational in organisms from cyanobacteria up to gymnosperms

Photo-reduction of O₂ to water mediated by flavodiiron proteins (FDPs) represents a safety valve for the photosynthetic electron transport chain in fluctuating light. So far, the FDP-mediated O₂ photo-reduction has been evidenced only in cyanobacteria and the moss Physcomitrella; however, a recent phylogenetic analysis of transcriptomes of photosynthetic organisms has also revealed the presence of FDP genes in several nonflowering plant groups. What remains to be clarified is whether the FDP-dependent O₂ photo-reduction is actually operational in these organisms. We have established a simple method for the monitoring of FDP-mediated O₂ photo-reduction, based on the measurement of redox kinetics of P700 (the electron donor of photosystem I) upon dark-to-light transition. The O₂ photo-reduction is manifested as a fast re-oxidation of P700. The validity of the method was verified by experiments with transgenic organisms, namely FDP knock-out mutants of Synechocystis and Physcomitrella and transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing FDPs from Physcomitrella. We observed the fast P700 re-oxidation in representatives of all green plant groups excluding angiosperms. Our results provide strong evidence that the FDP-mediated O₂ photo-reduction is functional in all nonflowering green plant groups. This finding suggests a major change in the strategy of photosynthetic regulation during the evolution of angiosperms.