title: On photoprotective mechanisms of carotenoids in light harvesting complex.
abstract: Carotenoids in light harvesting complex (LHC) play an important role in preventing plants photodamage caused by excess light. Non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) is an important mechanism adopted by plants to deal with high light intensity and the major component is referred to as energy dependent quenching (qE). Despite numerous studies have been devoted to investigating the site and mechanism of qE, there are still much debate on these topics. In this article, we discussed the possible site and underlying mechanism of qE based on the structural similarity of carotenoids. Moreover, being as good antioxidants, carotenoids' potential protective effects against LHC photo-oxidation by quenching active oxygen species or triplet excited state chlorophyll are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Shandong Provincial Research Center for Bioinformatic Engineering and Technique, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, PR China.
authors.forename: Fu-Gui
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Hong-Fang
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Ji
mesh_terms: D002338:Carotenoids / Q000737:chemistry*; D008027:Light; D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes / Q000737:chemistry*; D014975:Lutein / Q000737:chemistry; D010944:Plants / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary
chemical_list: D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes; D002338:Carotenoids; D014975:Lutein