Novel effects of methyl viologen on photosystem II function in spinach leaves

Da Yong Fan, Husen Jia, James Barber, Wah Soon Chow

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    22 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Methyl viologen (MV) is a well-known electron mediator that works on the acceptor side of photosystem I. We investigated the little-known, MV-induced inhibition of linear electron flow through photosystem II (PS II) in spinach-leaf discs. Even a low [MV] decreased the (1) average, light-adapted photochemical efficiency of PS II traps, (2) oxidation state of the primary quinone acceptor QA in PS II during illumination, (3) photochemical efficiency of light-adapted open PS II traps, (4) fraction of absorbed light energy dissipated constitutively in a light-independent manner or as chlorophyll (Chl) a fluorescence emission, (5) Chl a fluorescence yield corresponding to dark-adapted open reaction-center traps (F o) and closed reaction-center traps (F m), and (6) half-time for re-oxidation of Q A - in PS II after a single-turnover flash. These effects suggest that the presence of MV accelerates various "downhill" electron-transfer steps in PS II. Therefore, when using the MV to quantify cyclic electron flow, the inhibitory effect of MV on PS II should be taken into account.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)191-199
    Number of pages9
    JournalEuropean Biophysics Journal
    Volume39
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Jan 2009

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