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Kinetics of prolonged photoinhibition revisited: photoinhibited Photosystem II centres do not protect the active ones against loss of oxygen evolution

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Abstract

Photoinhibition of Photosystem II (PSII) in lincomycin-treated leaves begins as a first-order reaction, but fluorescence measurements have suggested that after prolonged illumination, the number of active PSII centres stabilizes to 15–20% of control. The stabilization has been interpreted to indicate that photoinhibited PSII centres protect the remaining active centres against photoinhibition (Lee, Hong and Chow, Planta 212:332–342, 2001). In an attempt to study the mechanism of this protection, we measured the reaction kinetics of photoinhibition in lincomycin-treated pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.) and pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) leaves in vivo. The light-saturated rate of PSII oxygen evolution, assayed from thylakoids and isolated from the treated leaves, was used as a direct measure of the number of remaining active PSII centres, and the fluorescence parameters F V/F M and (F V/F M)/F 0 (=1/F 0 − 1/F M) were measured for comparison. To our surprise, no stabilization of PSII activity was observed and photoinhibition followed first-order kinetics until PSII activity had virtually declined to zero. A series of in vitro experiments was carried out to see whether stabilization of PSII activity occurs if a particular combination of light intensity and wavelength range is applied, or if a specific PSII preparation is used as experimental material. The results of the in vitro experiments confirmed the in vivo result about persistent first-order kinetics. We conclude that photoinhibited PSII centres offer no measurable protection against photoinhibition.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by Academy of Finland and Turku University Foundation. We would like to thank Eija Pätsikkä, Marja Hakala and Eeva-Maija Puputti for assistance in the first in vivo photoinhibition experiments and Liisa Gunnelius for help in immunoblotting.

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  1. Plant Physiology and Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland

    Päivi Sarvikas, Taina Tyystjärvi & Esa Tyystjärvi

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  1. Päivi Sarvikas
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  2. Taina Tyystjärvi
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  3. Esa Tyystjärvi
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Correspondence to Esa Tyystjärvi.

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Sarvikas, P., Tyystjärvi, T. & Tyystjärvi, E. Kinetics of prolonged photoinhibition revisited: photoinhibited Photosystem II centres do not protect the active ones against loss of oxygen evolution. Photosynth Res 103, 7–17 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-009-9496-1

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