Is the in vivo Photosystem I Function Resistant to Photoinhibition? An Answer from Photoacoustic and Far-Red Absorbance Measurements in Intact Leaves

Abstract

Abstract Preillumination of intact pea leaves with a strong blue-green light of 400 W m-2 markedly inhibited both photoacoustically monitored O2-evolution activity and PS II photochemistry as estimated from chlorophyll fluorescence measurements. The aim of the present work was to examine, with the help of the photoacoustic technique, whether this high-light treatment deteriorated the in vivo PS I function too. High-frequency photoacoustic measurements indicated that photochemical conversion of far-red light energy in PS I was preserved (and even transiently stimulated) whereas photochemical energy storage monitored in light exciting both PS I and PS II was markedly diminished. Low-frequency photoacoustic measurements of the Emerson enhancement showed a spectacular change in the PS II/PS I activity balance in favor of PS I. It was also observed that the linear portion of the saturation curve of the far-red light effect in the Emerson enhancement was not changed by the light treatment. Those results lead to the conclusion that, in contrast to PS II, the in vivo PS I photofunctioning was resistant to strong light stress, thus confirming previous suggestions derived from in vitro studies. Estimation of the redox state of the PS I reaction center by leaf absorbance measurements at ca. 820 nm suggested that, under steady illumination, a considerably larger fraction of PS I centers were in the closed state in high-light pretreated leaves as compared to control leaves, presumably allowing passive adjustment of the macroscopic quantum yield of PS I photochemis­ try to the strongly reduced photochemical efficiency of photoinhibited PS II.