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Interactions between Electron Transport and Carbon Assimilation in Leaves: Coordination of Activities and Control

  • Chapter
Photosynthesis: Photoreactions to Plant Productivity

Abstract

Concepts of control within photosynthetic syste~ have generally been discussed in tenns of the independent regulation of two discrete, spatially separated reaction sequences. These are the electron transport processes and the carbon reduction cycle, occurring in the thylakoid membrane and the stroma, respectively. The fonner comprise two photosystems operating sequentially to achieve Iight-driven reduction of NADP+ with concomitant production of a proton gradient. This is used to generate ATP. NADPH and ATP thus produced are consumed during the assimilation and reduction of CO2 to the level of sugar phosphate. The producer-consumer relationship between electron transport and CO2 assimilation ensures their tight coupling by virtue of the cycling of intennediates. However, in vivo regulation is complicated by the necessity to reconcile the conflicting requirements of the thylakoid reactions and the stromal enzymes.

Several regulatory mechanisms are involved in the modulation of the activity state of key enzymes of the carbon reduction cycle so as to match their activity to the availability of the products of electron flow. High levels of ATP and NADPH are needed to drive high rates CO2 reduction but high rates of electron transport are difficult to maintain when the electron acceptor NADP and the substrate for photophosphorylation ADP are not freely available. Measurements of (NADPH)/(NADP) ratios and phosphorylation potentials (ATP)/(ADP) + (Pi) in vivo give much lower values than would be predicted from in vitro measurements with isolated thylakoids. In addition, these parameters are surprisingly stable in vivo over a wide range of conditions. The molecular mechanisms whereby electron transport is restrained when ADP and NADP are in short supply are not fully understood. Under these conditions the quantum efficiency of photosystem II is down-regulated and thennodynamic constraints exert a restraining control on the rate of electron flow. The mechanisms that serve to decrease the quantum efficiency of photosystem II also facilitate the coordinate and harmless conversion of light energy directly to heat.

Photoinhibition is a further mechanism that causes a restriction of electron transport. It is exerted under conditions of excessive irradiation and results in a stable down-regulation of photosystem II function.

Much progress has been made in recent years in understanding the relative contributions made by each regulatory process but our insights are far from complete. The most important question to address, however, is why such tight regulation exists. The answeres to this question are complex but undoubtedly such precise regulation confers a physiological advantage. In short, co-regulation serves to prevent deleterious effects that would otherwise occur. Precise coordination of reaction rates prevents continuous oscillations in metabolite flux, allows optimization of resources, and yet confers a degree of flexibility that is essential for the avoidance of the detrimental effects of light in a hazardous and constantly changing environment. The most destructive of these are the mechanisms that produce toxic derivatives of oxygen which are an inevitable consequence of the operation of the electron transport chain in an aerobic environment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire du Métabolisme, INRA, Versailles, Cédex, 78026, France

    Christine H. Foyer

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  1. Christine H. Foyer
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India

    Yash Pal Abrol

  2. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

    Prasanna Mohanty

  3. University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, USA

    Govindjee

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Foyer, C.H. (1993). Interactions between Electron Transport and Carbon Assimilation in Leaves: Coordination of Activities and Control. In: Abrol, Y.P., Mohanty, P., Govindjee (eds) Photosynthesis: Photoreactions to Plant Productivity. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2708-0_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2708-0_8

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