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Acclimation of Arabidopsis thaliana to the light environment: Changes in composition of the photosynthetic apparatus

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Abstract

Acclimation to changes in the light environment was investigated in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. cv. Landsberg erecta. Plants grown under four light regimes showed differences in their development, morphology, photosynthetic performance and in the composition of the photosynthetic apparatus. Plants grown under high light showed higher maximum rates of oxygen evolution and lower levels of light-harvesting complexes than their low light-grown counterparts; plants transferred to low light showed rapid changes in maximum photosynthetic rate and chlorophyll-a/b ratio as they became acclimated to the new environment. In contrast, plants grown under lights of differing spectral quality showed significant differences in the ratio of photosystem II to photosystem I. These changes are consistent with a model in which photosynthetic metabolism provides signals which regulate the composition of the thylakoid membrane.

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Abbreviations

Aac1 :

gene encoding actin

Chl:

chlorophyll

F:

far-red-enriched light (R:FR = 0.72)

FR:

far-red light

H:

high light (400 μmol · m−2 · s−1)

L:

low light (100 μml · m−2 · s−1)

LHCII:

light-harvesting complex of PSII

Lhcb:

genes encoding the proteins of LHCII

R:

red light

Rbcs :

genes encoding the small subunit of Rubisco

Rubisco:

ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase

W:

white light (R:FR = 1.40)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Robert Hill Institute, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, P.O. Box 594, S10 2UH, Western Bank, Sheffield, UK

    Robin G. Walters & Peter Horton

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  1. Robin G. Walters
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  2. Peter Horton
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This work was supported by Natural Environment Research Council Grant No. GR3/7571A. We would like to thank H. Smith (Botany Department, University of Leicester) and E. Murchie (University of Sheffield) for helpful discussions.

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Walters, R.G., Horton, P. Acclimation of Arabidopsis thaliana to the light environment: Changes in composition of the photosynthetic apparatus. Planta 195, 248–256 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00199685

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