Photosystem II protein phosphorylation follows four distinctly different regulatory patterns induced by environmental cues

ABSTRACT Differential redox regulation of thylakoid phosphoproteins was studied in winter rye plants in vivo. The redox state of chloroplasts was modulated by growing plants under different light/temperature conditions and by transient shifts to different light/temperature regimes. Phosphorylation of PSII reaction centre proteins D1 and D2, the chlorophyll a binding protein CP43, the major chlorophyll a/b binding proteins Lhcb1 and Lhcb2 (LHCII) and the minor light‐harvesting antenna protein CP29 seem to belong to four distinct regulatory groups. Phosphorylation of D1 and D2 was directly dependent on the reduction state of the plastoquinone pool. CP43 protein phosphorylation generally followed the same pattern, but often remained phosphorylated even in darkness. Phosphorylation of CP29 occurred upon strong reduction of the plastoquinone pool, and was further enhanced by low temperatures. In vitro studies further demonstrated that CP29 phosphorylation is independent of the redox state of both the cytochrome b6/f complex and the thiol compounds. Complete phosphorylation of Lhcb1 and 2 proteins, on the contrary, required only modest reduction of the plastoquinone pool, and was subject to inhibition upon increase in the thiol redox state of the stroma. Furthermore, the reversible phosphorylation of Lhcb1 and 2 proteins appeared to be an extremely dynamic process, being rapidly modulated by short‐term fluctuations in chloroplast redox conditions.