title: Photosynthesis, chlorophyll fluorescence, light-harvesting system and photoinhibition resistance of a zeaxanthin-accumulating mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana.
abstract: The abscisic-acid-deficient aba-1 mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana is unable to epoxidize zeaxanthin. As a consequence, it contains large amounts of this carotenoid and lacks epoxy-xanthophylls. HPLC analysis of pigment contents in leaves, isolated thylakoids and preparations of the major light-harvesting complex of photosystem II (PSII) (LHC-II) indicated that zeaxanthin replaced neoxanthin, violaxanthin and antheraxanthin in the light-harvesting system of PSII in aba-1. Non-denaturing electrophoretic fractionation of solubilized thylakoids showed that the xanthophyll imbalance in aba-1 was associated with a pronounced decrease in trimeric LHC-II in favour of monomeric complexes, with a substantial increase in free pigments (mainly zeaxanthin and chlorophyll b), suggesting a decreased stability of LHC-II. The reduced thermostability of PSII in aba-1 was also deduced from in vivo chlorophyll fluorescence measurements. Wild-type and aba-1 leaves could not be distinguished on the basis of their photosynthetic performance: no significant difference was observed between the two types of leaves for light-limited and light-saturated photosynthetic oxygen evolution, PSII photochemistry and PSII to PSI electron flow. When dark-adapted leaves (grown in white light of 80 mumol m-2s-1) were suddenly exposed to red light of 150 mumol m-2s-1, there was a strong nonphotochemical quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence, the amplitude of which was virtually identical (at steady state) in aba-1 and wild-type leaves, despite the fact that the xanthophyll cycle pigment pool was completely in the form of zeaxanthin in aba-1 and almost exclusively in the form of violaxanthin in the wild type. A high concentration of zeaxanthin in aba-1 thylakoids did not, in itself, provide any particular protection against the photoinhibition of PSII. Taken together, the presented results indicate the following: (1) zeaxanthin can replace epoxy-xanthophylls in LHC-II without significantly affecting the photochemical efficiency of PSII; (2) zeaxanthin does not play any specific role in direct (thermal) energy dissipation in PSII; (3) the photoprotective action of the xanthophyll cycle (rapid photoconversion of violaxanthin to zeaxanthin) is not based on the mere substitution of violaxanthin by zeaxanthin in the chlorophyll antennae.
authors.affiliation: Département d'Ecophysiologie Végétale et de Microbiologie, CEA, Centre d'Etudes de Cadarache, Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tardy
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Havaux
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000378:metabolism; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000378:metabolism; D003902:Detergents / Q000737:chemistry; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005453:Fluorescence; D007096:Imidoesters / Q000737:chemistry; D008027:Light; D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes; D009154:Mutation; D010788:Photosynthesis; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D045332:Photosystem II Protein Complex; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism; D024341:Xanthophylls; D065146:Zeaxanthins; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D003902:Detergents; D007096:Imidoesters; D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins; D045332:Photosystem II Protein Complex; D024341:Xanthophylls; D065146:Zeaxanthins; D019207:beta Carotene; D002734:Chlorophyll; C034266:N-lauryl iminodipropionate; D002338:Carotenoids