Photoinhibition of Chloroplast Reactions. I. Kinetics and Action Spectra

Abstract

A study was made of photoinhibition of spinach chloroplast reactions. The kinetics and spectral characteristics of the photoinhibition over a range between 230 and 700 mμ have been examined. The decline of activity due to preillumination was independent of wavelength, and dependent upon the number of quanta applied, not upon the rate of application. The effectiveness spectra of photoinhibition indicate that active ultraviolet light is absorbed by a pigment which is not a normal light absorber for photosynthesis and acts with a high quantum efficiency (> 0.1) for photoinhibition.