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Regulation of photosynthetic electron-transport in Phaseolus vulgaris L., as determined by room-temperature chlorophyll a fluorescence

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Abstract

The regulation of photosystem II (PSII) by light-, CO2-, and O2-dependent changes in the capacity for carbon metabolism was studied. Estimates of the rate of electron transport through PSII were made from gas-exchange data and from measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence. At subsaturating photon-flux density (PFD), the rate of electron transport was independent of O2 and CO2. Feedback on electron transport was observed under two conditions. At saturating PFD and low partial pressure of CO2, p(CO2), the rate of electron transport increased with p(CO2). However, at high p(CO2), switching from normal to low p(O2) did not affect the net rate of photosynthetic CO2 assimilation but the rate of electron-transport decreased by an amount related to the change in the rate of photorespiration. We interpret these effects as 1) regulation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphatecarboxylase (RuBPCase, EC 4.1.1.39) activity to match the rate of electron transport at limiting PFD, 2) regulation of electron-transport rate to match the rate of RuBPCase at low p(CO2), and 3) regulation of the electron-transport rate to match the capacity for starch and sucrose synthesis at high p(CO2) and PFD. These studies provide evidence that PSII is regulated so that the capacity for electron transport is matched to the capacity for other processes required by photosynthesis, such as ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylation and starch and sucrose synthesis. We show that at least two mechanisms contribute to the regulation of PSII activity and that the relative engagement of these mechanisms varies with time following a step change in the capacity for ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylation and starch and sucrose synthesis. Finally, we take advantage of the relatively slow activation of deactivated RuBPCase in vivo to show that the activation level of this enzyme can limit the rate of electron transport as evidenced by increased feedback on PSII following a step change in p(CO2). As RuBPCase as activated, the feedback on PSII declined.

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Abbreviations

JC :

electron-transport rate calculated from CO2-assimilation measurements

JF :

electron-transport rate calculated from fluorescence parameters

PFD:

photon-flux density

qE :

energy-dependent quenching

PSII:

photosystem II

qQ :

Q-dependent quenching

QY:

quantum yield

RuBPCase:

ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (EC 4.1.1.39)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, 53706, Madison, WI, USA

    Thomas D. Sharkey

  2. Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 290 Panama Street, 94305, Stanford, CA, USA

    Joseph A. Berry

  3. Department of Botany, University of Georgia, 30602, Athens, GA, USA

    Rowan F. Sage

Authors
  1. Thomas D. Sharkey
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  2. Joseph A. Berry
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  3. Rowan F. Sage
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C.I.W. publication No. 1015

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Sharkey, T.D., Berry, J.A. & Sage, R.F. Regulation of photosynthetic electron-transport in Phaseolus vulgaris L., as determined by room-temperature chlorophyll a fluorescence. Planta 176, 415–424 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00395423

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