N.E. Belyaeva

Application of a Photosystem II Model for Analysis of Fluorescence Induction Curves in the 100 ns to 10 s Time Domain after Excitation with a Saturating Light Pulse

A mathematical model of photosystem II (PSII) events was used to analyze chlorophyll fluorescence transients in the time domain from 100 ns to 10 s after excitation with a saturating 10-ns flash, applied as a part of specialized illumination protocol, using preparations of a thermophilic strain of the unicellular green alga, Chlorella pyrenoidosa Chick (using both intact and diuron-treated cells). Analysis of simulation results has proven that particular attention should be given to flash-induced recombination processes, including nonradiative recombination in PSII, while subsequent charge transfer along the electron transport chain of thylakoid membrane can be adequately described by a single reaction of quinone reoxidation. The PSII model was extended by taking inhibition by diuron of the electron transport in the acceptor side of PSII into account, which allowed simulation of fluorescence induction curves observed in the presence of this inhibitor. The model parameters were determined (stromal pH, rate constants of nonradiative recombination, and the initial reduction state of the quinone pool) which provided adequate simulation of experimentally observed ratios of the maximal and initial fluorescence levels (Fm/F0).

PS II model based analysis of transient fluorescence yield measured on whole leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana after excitation with light flashes of different energies

Our recently presented PS II model (Belyaeva et al., 2008) was improved in order to permit a consistent simulation of Single Flash Induced Transient Fluorescence Yield (SFITFY) traces that were earlier measured by Steffen et al. (2005) on whole leaves of Arabidopsis (A.) thaliana at four different energies of the actinic flash. As the essential modification, the shape of the actinic flash was explicitly taken into account assuming that an exponentially decaying rate simulates the time dependent excitation of PS II by the 10 ns actinic flash. The maximum amplitude of this excitation exceeds that of the measuring light by 9 orders of magnitude. A very good fit of the SFITFY data was achieved in the time domain from 100 ns to 10s for all actinic flash energies (the maximum energy of 7.5 × 10¹⁶ photons/(cm²flash) is set to 100%, the relative energies of weaker actinic flashes were of ∼8%, 4%, ∼1%). Our model allows the calculation and visualization of the transient PS II redox state populations ranging from the dark adapted state, via excitation energy and electron transfer steps induced by pulse excitation, followed by final relaxation into the stationary state eventually attained under the measuring light. It turned out that the rate constants of electron transfer steps are invariant to intensity of the actinic laser flash. In marked contrast, an increase of the actinic flash energy by more than two orders of magnitude from 5.4×10¹⁴ photons/(cm²flash) to 7.5×10¹⁶ photons/(cm²flash), leads to an increase of the extent of fluorescence quenching due to carotenoid triplet (³Car) formation by a factor of 14 and of the recombination reaction between reduced primary pheophytin (Phe(-)) and P680(+) by a factor of 3 while the heat dissipation in the antenna complex remains virtually constant. The modified PS II model offers new opportunities to compare electron transfer and dissipative parameters for different species (e.g. for the green algae and the higher plant) under varying illumination conditions.

Mathematical and computer modeling of primary photosynthetic processes

We review the recent research on kinetic and direct multiparticle modeling of the processes in the photosynthetic membrane conducted at the Chair of Biophysics of the Biological Faculty, Moscow State University. The models take into account the modern experimental data on the heterogeneous structure and the kinetic characteristics of the system. The generalized kinetic model describes the processes in multisubunit complexes (photosystems I and II, the cytochrome complex), the coupled transmembrane ion fluxes and generation of the electrical and electrochemical potentials. Identification of the model parameters allows estimation of the rate constants for reactions that cannot be examined experimentally. Multiparticle models provide a vivid picture of the interaction between the electron transport chain components in the thylakoid lumen and stroma, and explicitly represent Brownian diffusion and electrostatic interactions between electron carriers. Combination of different description methods (differential equations and the Brownian dynamics formalism) makes it possible to model, in the complicated 3D environment of the plant cell, the processes that in the aggregate ensure the high efficacy of energy transduction in photosynthesis.

A model of photosystem II for the analysis of fast fluorescence rise in plant leaves

The polyphasic patterns of fluorescence induction rise in pea leaves in vivo and after the treatment with ionophores have been studied using a Plant Efficiency Analyzer. To analyze in detail photosystem II (PS II) electron transfer processes, an extended PS II model was applied, which included the sums of exponential functions to specify explicitly the light-driven formation of the transmembrane electric potential (ΔΨ(t)) as well as pH in the lumen (pHL(t)) and stroma (pHS(t)). PS II model parameters and numerical coefficients in ΔΨ(t), pHL(t), and pHS(t) were evaluated to fit fluorescence induction data for different experimental conditions: leaf in vivo or after ionophore treatment at low or high light intensity. The model imitated changes in the pattern of fluorescence induction rise due to the elimination of transmembrane potential in the presence of ionophores, when ΔΨ = 0 and pHL(t), pHS(t) changed to small extent relative to control values in vivo, with maximum ΔΨ(t) ∼ 90 mV and ΔΨ(t) ∼ 40 mV for the stationary state at ΔpH ≅ 1.8. As the light intensity was increased from 300 to 1200 μmol m−2 s−1, the heat dissipation rate constants increased threefold for nonradiative recombination of P680+Phe− and by ∼30% for P680+QA−. The parameters ΔΨ, pHS and pHL were analyzed as factors of PS II redox state populations and fluorescence yield. The kinetic mechanism of fluorescence quenching is discussed, which is related with light-induced lumen acidification, when +QA− and P680+ recombination probability increases to regulate the QA reduction.