Photoprotection of phytochrome

Abstract

High-fluence-rate white light is shown to retard the degradation of phytochrome in etiolated seedlings of four different species: Amaranthus caudatus, Phaseolus radiatus (mung bean), Pisum sativum (garden pea), and Avena sativa (oat). In Amaranthus, a high photon fluence rate (approx. 1000 μmol · m^-2 · s^-1) preserved nearly 50% of the total phytochrome over a period of 5 h; at 3 μmol · m^-2 · s^-1, less than 8% remained over the same period. Kinetics of the loss of total phytochrome could be interpreted in terms of two populations, one with rapid, and one with slow, turnover rates. A log-linear relationship between fluence rate and proportion of slowly degrading phytochrome was observed; a similar relationship between fluence rate and the amount of phytochrome remaining after a 5-h light treatment was seen. In mung bean, although two populations of differing degradation rates were not resolvable, a similar log-linear relationship between fluence rate and amount remaining after a standard light treatment was evident. Detailed kinetic analyses were not performed with peas and oats, but comparisons of low and high fluence rates demonstrated that photoprotection was similarly effective in these species. In Amaranthus, transfer from high to low fluence rate was accompanied by a rapid increase in degradation rate, indicating that the retarding effect of high-fluence-rate light is not a consequence of the disablement of the degradative machinery.

Immunochemical analyses confirmed the existence of photoprotection in all four species, and allowed the extension of the observations to periods of light treatment during which substantial chlorophyll production occurred. Considerable photoprotection was observed in oat seedlings exposed to summer sunlight. These results are interpreted in terms of the accumulation under high fluence rates of photoconversion intermediates not available to the degradative machinery which is specific for the far-red-absorbing form of phytochrome.