Zeaxanthin and the Induction and Relaxation Kinetics of the Dissipation of Excess Excitation Energy in Leaves in 2% O2, 0% CO2

Abstract

The relationship between the carotenoid zeaxanthin, formed by violaxanthin de-epoxidation, and nonphotochemical fluorescence quenching (qNP) in the light was investigated in leaves of Glycine max during a transient from dark to light in 2% O2, 0% CO2 at 100 to 200 micromoles of photons per square meter per second, (a) Up to a qNP (which can vary between 0 and 1) of about 0.7, the zeaxanthin content of leaves was linearly correlated with qNP as well as with the rate constant for radiationless energy dissipation in the antenna chlorophyll (KD). Beyond this point, at very high degrees of fluorescence quenching, only kD was directly proportional to the zeaxanthin content. (b) The relationship between zeaxanthin and kD was quantitatively similar for the rapidly relaxing quenching induced in 2% O2, 0% CO2 at 200 micromoles of photons per square meter per second and for the sustained quenching induced by long-term exposure of Nerium oleander to drought in high light (B Demming, K Winter, A Kruger, F-C Czygan [1988] Plant Physiol 87: 17-24). These findings suggest that the same dissipation process may be induced by very different treatments and that this particular dissipation process can have widely different relaxation kinetics. (c) A rapid induction of strong non-photochemical fluorescence quenching within about 1 minute was observed exclusively in leaves which already contained a background level of zeaxanthin.