Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
8 years ago

New Discovery Reveals How Sunlight Damages Photosynthesis in Plants

Biochemistry
Two-Step Mechanism of Photodamage to Photosystem II: Step 1 Occurs at the Oxygen-Evolving Complex and Step 2 Occurs at the Photochemical Reaction Center
Norikazu Ohnishi, Suleyman I. Allakhverdiev, Shunichi Takahashi, Shoichi Higashi, Masakatsu Watanabe, Yoshitaka Nishiyama, Norio Murata

Paper Summary

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Photodamage to photosystem II in plants happens in two steps. First, UV and blue light harm the oxygen-evolving complex. Then, red light damages the photochemical reaction center. This was shown by experiments using different types of light on thylakoid membranes. UV and blue light hurt the oxygen-evolving complex faster than the reaction center. Red light, on the other hand, mainly affects the reaction center. This two-step process helps us understand how excess light energy can harm the photosynthetic system.