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Effect of cadmium on photosystem II activity in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: alteration of O–J–I–P fluorescence transients indicating the change of apparent activation energies within photosystem II

Photosynthesis Research volume 107, pages 151–157 (2011)Cite this article

Abstract

In this study, we evaluated how cadmium inhibitory effect on photosystem II and I electron transport may affect light energy conversion into electron transport by photosystem II. To induce cadmium effect on the photosynthetic apparatus, we exposed Chlamydomonas reinhardtii 24 h to 0–4.62 μM Cd2+. By evaluating the half time of fluorescence transients O–J–I–P at different temperatures (20–30°C), we were able to determine the photosystem II apparent activation energies for different reduction steps of photosystem II, indicated by the O–J–I–P fluorescence transients. The decrease of the apparent activation energies for PSII electron transport was found to be strongly related to the cadmium-induced inhibition of photosynthetic electron transport. We found a strong correlation between the photosystem II apparent activation energies and photosystem II oxygen evolution rate and photosystem I activity. Different levels of cadmium inhibition at photosystem II water-splitting system and photosystem I activity showed that photosystem II apparent activation energies are strongly dependent to photosystem II donor and acceptor sides. Therefore, the oxido-reduction state of whole photosystem II and I electron transport chain affects the conversion of light energy from antenna complex to photosystem II electron transport.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) grant awarded to R. Popovic. F. Perreault is supported by a NSERC Ph.D. fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Université du Québec à Montréal, Case Postale 8888, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada

    François Perreault, Jérôme Dionne, Olivier Didur & Radovan Popovic

  2. Department of Biological Sciences-TOXEN, Laboratory of Aquatic Microorganism Ecotoxicology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Case Postale 8888, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada

    Philippe Juneau

Authors
  1. François Perreault
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  2. Jérôme Dionne
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  3. Olivier Didur
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  4. Philippe Juneau
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  5. Radovan Popovic
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Correspondence to Radovan Popovic.

Additional information

We dedicate this report to the memory of Jérôme Dionne (1978–2007).

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Perreault, F., Dionne, J., Didur, O. et al. Effect of cadmium on photosystem II activity in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: alteration of O–J–I–P fluorescence transients indicating the change of apparent activation energies within photosystem II. Photosynth Res 107, 151–157 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-010-9609-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-010-9609-x

Keywords

  • Cadmium
  • Photosystem II
  • Photosystem I
  • Oxygen-evolving complex
  • Activation energy
  • Chlamydomonas reinhardtii