Abstract
Photoinhibition of photosynthesis is manifested at the level of the leaf as a loss of CO2 fixation and at the level of the chloroplast thylakoid membrane as a loss of photosystem II electron-transport capacity. At the photosystem II level, photoinhibition is manifested by a lowered chlorophyll a variable fluorescence yield, by a lowered amplitude of the light-induced absorbance change at 320 nm (ΔA320) and 540-minus-550 nm (ΔA540–550), attributed to inhibition of the photoreduction of the primary plastoquinone QA molecule. A correlation of the kinetics of variable fluorescence yield loss with the inhibition of QA photoreduction suggested that photoinhibited reaction centers are incapable of generating a stable charge separation but are highly efficient in the trapping and non-photochemical dissipation of absorbed light. The direct effect of photoinhibition on primary photochemical parameters of photosystem II suggested a permanent reaction center modification the nature of which remains to be determined.
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Dedicated to Prof. L.N.M. Duysens on the occasion of his retirement
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Cleland, R.E., Melis, A. & Neale, P.J. Mechanism of photoinhibition: photochemical reaction center inactivation in system II of chloroplasts. Photosynth Res 9, 79–88 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00029734
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00029734