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Down-regulation of linear and activation of cyclic electron transport during drought

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Abstract

The effects of short-term drought on the regulation of electron transport through photosystems I and II (PSI and PSII) have been studied in Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Chariot. Fluorescence measurements demonstrated that electron flow through PSII decreased in response to both drought and CO2 limitation. This was due to regulation, as opposed to photoinhibition. We demonstrate that this regulation occurs between the two photosystems—in contrast to PSII, PSI became more oxidised and the rate constant for P700 re-reduction decreased under these conditions. Thus, when carbon fixation is inhibited, electron transport is down-regulated to match the reduced requirement for electrons and minimise reactive oxygen production. At the same time non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) increases, alleviating the excitation pressure placed on PSII. We observe an increase in the proportion of PSI centres that are ‘active’ (i.e. can be oxidised with a saturating flash and then rapidly re-reduced) under the conditions when NPQ is increased. We suggest that these additional centres are primarily involved in cyclic electron transport, which generates the ΔpH to support NPQ and protect PSII.

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Fig. 1.
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Fig. 3a–f.
Fig. 4a–f.
Fig. 5a, b.
Fig. 6a, b.
Fig. 7.

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Abbreviations

A :

assimilation rate

Ci:

internal CO2 concentration

ETC:

electron transport chain

g :

stomatal conductance

FR:

far red

k :

pseudo first-order rate constant for the reduction of oxidised P700

NPQ:

non-photochemical quenching

P700:

primary electron donor of photosystem I

PSI, PSII:

photosystem I, II

qP:

proportion of open PSII centres

ROS:

reactive oxygen species

ΔpH:

pH gradient across the thylakoid membrane

ΦPSII:

quantum yield of photosystem II

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Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. Pierre Joliot and Dr. Giovanni Finnazzi (IBPC, Paris) for useful and stimulating discussions relating to this work. A.J.G. was supported by a studentship from the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

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  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, 3.164 Stopford Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK

    Alison J. Golding & Giles N. Johnson

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  1. Alison J. Golding
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  2. Giles N. Johnson
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Correspondence to Giles N. Johnson.

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An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00425-003-1188-z

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Golding, A.J., Johnson, G.N. Down-regulation of linear and activation of cyclic electron transport during drought. Planta 218, 107–114 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-003-1077-5

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