Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 113, Issue 43, Pages 12322-12327Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1606685113
Keywords
photosynthesis; electron transport; photoprotection; plant evolution; mosses
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Funding
- European Research Council [309485] Funding Source: Medline
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Photosynthetic organisms support cell metabolism by harvesting sunlight to fuel the photosynthetic electron transport. The flow of excitation energy and electrons in the photosynthetic apparatus needs to be continuously modulated to respond to dynamics of environmental conditions, and Flavodiiron (FLV) proteins are seminal components of this regulatory machinery in cyanobacteria. FLVs were lost during evolution by flowering plants, but are still present in nonvascular plants such as Physcomitrella patens. We generated P. patens mutants depleted in FLV proteins, showing their function as an electron sink downstream of photosystem I for the first seconds after a change in light intensity. flv knock-out plants showed impaired growth and photosystem I photoinhibition when exposed to fluctuating light, demonstrating FLV's biological role as a safety valve from excess electrons on illumination changes. The lack of FLVs was partially compensated for by an increased cyclic electron transport, suggesting that in flowering plants, the FLV's role was taken by other alternative electron routes.
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