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Non-Photochemical Fluorescence Quenching and the Dynamics of Photosystem II Structure

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Non-Photochemical Quenching and Energy Dissipation in Plants, Algae and Cyanobacteria

Part of the book series: Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration ((AIPH,volume 40))

Summary

High-energy state quenching (qE) is the rapidly reversible component of non-photochemical quenching in chloroplasts. Recent experimental approaches indicate that establishment of the photoprotective qE state in green plant chloroplasts requires a large-scale re-organization of photosystem II and its light-harvesting antenna complexes (LHCII) within the grana membrane, with formation of spatially segregated domains of aggregated LHCII complexes. Consequently, qE formation requires mobility of chlorophyll-protein complexes within thylakoid membranes, and factors that control such mobility are major determinants of rapid qE formation. These factors include the complement of some minor light-harvesting proteins as well as the PsbS subunit of photosystem II. We review the evidence for this scenario, including studies of the organization of chlorophyll-protein complexes by freeze-fracture electron microscopy and studies of the mobility of chlorophyll-protein complexes by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching. Finally, we present an integrated working model for the structural events involved in qE formation, and the factors that trigger the transition. This model incorporates available evidence on the roles of proton binding to LHC complexes and to PsbS, and of xanthophyll cycle carotenoids.

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Abbreviations

AFM –:

Atomic force microscopy;

B4C –:

Supercomplex of CP24, CP29 and trimeric LHCII-M;

C2S2M2 –:

Supercomplex containing dimeric PS II core 2 LHCII-S trimers and 2 LHCII-M trimers;

CP24 –:

Monomeric light-harvesting antenna complex encoded by the lhcb6 gene;

CP26 –:

Monomeric light-harvesting antenna complex encoded by the lhcb5 gene;

CP29 –:

Monomeric light-harvesting antenna complex encoded by the lhcb4 gene;

EFs –:

Exoplasmic (lumenal) fracture face from stacked thylakoid membrane region;

EFu –:

Exoplasmic (lumenal) fracture face from unstacked thylakoid membrane region;

FFEM –:

Freeze-fracture electron microscopy;

FRAP –:

Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching;

LHC –:

Light-harvesting complex;

Lhcb1 –:

Major LHCII protein encoded by the lhcb1 gene;

Lhcb2 –:

Major LHCII protein encoded by the lhcb2 gene;

LHCII –:

Light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-binding protein of photosystem II;

LHCII-M –:

Moderately-bound LHCII trimer;

LHCII-S –:

Strongly-bound LHCII trimer;

LHCSR –:

Stress-related member of the LHC protein superfamily product of the LI818 transcript in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii;

NPQ –:

Non-photochemical quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence;

PFs –:

Protoplasmic (stromal) fracture face from stacked thylakoid membrane region;

PFu –:

Protoplasmic (stromal) fracture face from unstacked thylakoid membrane region;

PS II –:

Photosystem II;

PsbS –:

S subunit of photosystem II;

qE –:

High-energy state quenching as the rapidly reversible component of NPQ;

Stn7 –:

Chloroplast-located protein kinase encoded by the stn7 gene of Arabidopsis thaliana;

Stn8 –:

Chloroplast-located protein kinase encoded by the stn8 gene of Arabidopsis thaliana

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Acknowledgments

We thank the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), The Royal Society, The Leverhulme Trust and EU FP7 (Marie Curie ITN “HARVEST”) for financial support for our research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK

    Alexander V. Ruban & Conrad W. Mullineaux

Authors
  1. Alexander V. Ruban
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  2. Conrad W. Mullineaux
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Correspondence to Conrad W. Mullineaux .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA

    Barbara Demmig-Adams

  2. Laboratory of Photosynthetic Membranes Biological Research Center, Institute of Plant Biology Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary

    Gyozo Garab

  3. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA

    William Adams III

  4. Department of Plant Biology 265 Morrill Hall, MC-116, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA

    Govindjee

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Ruban, A.V., Mullineaux, C.W. (2014). Non-Photochemical Fluorescence Quenching and the Dynamics of Photosystem II Structure. In: Demmig-Adams, B., Garab, G., Adams III, W., Govindjee, . (eds) Non-Photochemical Quenching and Energy Dissipation in Plants, Algae and Cyanobacteria. Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration, vol 40. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9032-1_17

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