Dynamic feedback of the photosystem II reaction centre on photoprotection in plants

Photosystem II of higher plants is protected against light damage by thermal dissipation of excess excitation energy, a process that can be monitored through non-photochemical quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence. When the light intensity is lowered, non-photochemical quenching largely disappears on a time scale ranging from tens of seconds to many minutes. With the use of picosecond fluorescence spectroscopy, we demonstrate that one of the...