Photoprotection in an ecological context: the remarkable complexity of thermal energy dissipation

Summary This review places photoprotection into the context of ecology and species diversity. The focus is on photoprotection via the safe removal – as thermal energy – of excess solar energy absorbed by the light collecting system, which counteracts the formation of reactive oxygen species. An update on the surprisingly complex, multiple variations of thermal energy dissipation is presented, placing these different forms into ecological and genetic contexts. Zeaxanthin‐facilitated, flexible thermal dissipation associated with the PsbS protein and controlled by the trans ‐thylakoid pH gradient apparently occurs ubiquitously in plants, and can become sustained (and thus less flexible) at low temperatures.…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: 0235351
• UD
  U.S. Department of Agriculture
• AW
  Andrew W. Mellon Foundation