A mechanistic view of the reduction in photosynthetic protein abundance under diurnal light fluctuation

Leaves adapted to diurnal fluctuating light (FL) tend to have reduced photosynthetic parameters in comparison with those grown under constant light but intercepting the same daily photon integral (DPI). This reduction may result from a non-linear relationship between photosynthetic protein synthesis rate (PPSR) and incident photo-synthetically active radiation (PAR). Models incorporating the PPSR-PAR relationship have quantitatively predicted the effects of FL reported in the literature. Further simulations suggest that the degree of this reduction varies with the FL pattern, DPI level and parameters describing the PPSR-PAR relationship.