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Are Chlorophyll-Carotenoid Interactions Responsible for Rapidly Reversible Non-Photochemical Fluorescence Quenching?

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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))

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Summary

Photoprotective thermal energy dissipation (as assessed via non-photochemical quenching of singlet-excited chlorophyll a, NPQ) in plants is driven by various mechanisms occurring over different time scales. The rapid and reversible part of NPQ, also called qE (for energy-dependent quenching), was demonstrated to correlate with the twisting of a neoxanthin molecule in the light-harvesting antenna as observed by resonance Raman spectroscopy (Nature 450: 575–578, 2007). Interestingly, the extent of fluorescence quenching correlates with the change in Raman signal in different situations: during NPQ in vivo, during fluorescence quenching upon aggregation of LHCII (the major light-harvesting complex in plants), and in crystals of LHCII. In the same study, it was proposed that the quenching is caused by excitation energy transfer from chlorophyll a to lutein in LHCII after a structural change that correlates with the twisting of the neoxanthin. However, this view has been challenged by others for different reasons. Here we discuss the arguments in favor and against this mechanism. A short overview is given of the spectroscopic data on chlorophyll-carotenoid interactions in plant light-harvesting systems, the changes in interactions upon aggregation or crystallization, and the possible relationship to the mechanism of NPQ.

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Abbreviations

B4C:

Band 4 complex;

C2:

Dimeric core of PS II;

C2S2M2:

Supercomplex of PS II consisting of a dimeric core surrounded by the outer light-harvesting complexes (LHCs): 4 major (LHCII) and 6 minor ones (two each of CP24, CP26 and CP29);

Car:

Carotenoid;

Chl:

Chlorophyll;

Chl 610:

Chl A1;

Chl 612:

Chl A2;

CP24, CP26, CP29:

Minor light-harvesting complexes of photosystem II;

CT:

Charge-transfer;

DES:

De-epoxidation state;

EET:

Excitation energy transfer;

LHC:

Light-harvesting complex;

LHCII:

Light-harvesting complex II;

LHCII-M:

Moderately coupled LHCII trimer;

LHCII-S:

Strongly coupled LHCII trimer;

Lut1:

Lutein 1;

N:

Neoxanthin;

NPQ:

Non-photochemical quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence;

PS I:

Photosystem I;

PS II:

Photosystem II;

qE:

Energy-dependent quenching;

RC:

Reaction center;

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species;

V:

Violaxanthin;

Z:

Zeaxanthin

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Dr. Roberta Croce for helpful discussions and for providing the figures. I am also obliged to Drs. B. Demmig-Adams, G. Garab, A.R. Holzwarth, and T. Polivka for helpful comments and suggestions. I would like to acknowledge support from the research programme of BioSolar Cells, cofinanced by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Biophysics, Wageningen University, 8128, Wageningen, 6700 ET, The Netherlands

    Herbert van Amerongen

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  1. Herbert van Amerongen
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Correspondence to Herbert van Amerongen .

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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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van Amerongen, H. (2014). Are Chlorophyll-Carotenoid Interactions Responsible for Rapidly Reversible Non-Photochemical Fluorescence Quenching?. 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_15

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