Conserved Kinetics at the Reducing Side of Reaction-Center II in Photosynthetic Organisms; Changed Kinetics in Triaiine-Resistant Weeds

The decay of chlorophyll variable fluorescence after a “single turnover” flash is generally assumed to represent the reoxidation of the reduced quinone Qa. We have observed that the kinetics of this decay are very similar in a wide variety of species. Comparing 28 different species we found an average half decay time of 314 ±46 μsec. No systematic correlations were found between the decay rate and biochemical or physiological specializations such as C2. C4 or CAM. This indicates that structural as well as functional factors controlling photosystem II electron transfer between Qaand Qb are highly conserved. Apparently, the freedom for natural structural variations in this region is very limited. Triazine resistant plants, characterized by an altered amino acid sequence of the D 1 protein, have clearly decreased rates of Qa/Qb electron transfer. We found an average half decay time of 946 ± 100 μsec (5 species). However, this three-fold decrease is much less than previously reported. Therefore, if alterations of photosystem II electron transfer efficiency contributes to an often reported reduction of “ecological fitness” this contribution is smaller than was hitherto assumed.