Blue-light-controlled photoprotection in plants at the level of the photosynthetic antenna complex LHCII

Wieslaw I. Gruszecki, Rafal Luchowski, Monika Zubik, Wojciech Grudzinski, Ewa Janik, Malgorzata Gospodarek, Jacek Goc, Zygmunt Gryczynski, Ignacy Gryczynski

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

29 Scopus citations

Abstract

Plants have developed several adaptive regulatory mechanisms, operating at all the organization levels, to optimize utilization of light energy and to protect themselves against over-excitation-related damage. We report activity of a previously unknown possible regulatory mechanism that operates at the molecular level of the major photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes of plants, LHCII. This mechanism is driven exclusively by blue light, operates in the trimeric but not in the monomeric complex, and results in singlet excitation quenching leading to thermal energy dissipation. The conclusions are based on single molecule fluorescence lifetime analysis, direct measurements of thermal energy dissipation by photo-thermal spectroscopy, and on fluorescence spectroscopy. Possible molecular mechanisms involved in the blue-light-induced photoprotective effect are discussed, including xanthophyll photo-isomerization and the thermo-optic effect.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)69-73
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Plant Physiology
Volume167
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2010

Keywords

  • Blue-light effect
  • FLIM
  • LHCII
  • Photoprotection
  • Single molecule spectroscopy

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