Abstract
Photosynthetic organisms alter their photosynthetic pigment composition in response to changes in growth irradiance1–3. Photo-adaptation maximizes light-harvesting when photon flux densities are low, and minimizes photo-oxidative damage to the photosynthetic machinery at high light levels. In chlorophytes, the major light-harvesting antenna is light-harvesting complex II (LHC II), a family of proteins binding chlorophyll a (Chl a), Chl b, and carotenoids, and accounting for 40–60% of total cell chlorophyll4. LHC II is associated principally with photosystem II, with reversible phosphorylation of LHC II regulating short-term adjustments in energy distribution to photosystem I5. Previous studies on green algae and higher plants have emphasized the longer-term adaptive importance of the inverse relationship between growth irradiance and the proportion of total cellular chlorophyll associated with LHC II6–8. In higher plants the pigment composition of LHC II appears to be highly conserved, with Chl a/Chl b ratios between 1.0 and 1.2 (ref 7). In green algae, the pigment ratio of LHC II is more variable and values between 0.7 and 2.7 have been reported9–11. We report here that in the unicellular marine chlorophyte, Dunaliella tertiolecta, the ratio is actually variable. Photoadapta-tion to high irradiance involves changes in the average composition and behaviour of LHC II; specifically, the Chl b content per polypeptide is halved and the efficiency of excitation transfer from carotenoid to Chl a declines. The result is a novel mechanism for regulating the effective absorption cross-section of photosystem II.
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Sukenik, A., Wyman, K., Bennett, J. et al. A novel mechanism for regulating the excitation of photosystem II in a green alga. Nature 327, 704–707 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/327704a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/327704a0
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