Roles of the Cyclic Electron Flow Around PSI (CEF-PSI) and O2-Dependent Alternative Pathways in Regulation of the Photosynthetic Electron Flow in Short-Term Fluctuating Light in Arabidopsis thaliana

To assess the roles of the cyclic electron flow around PSI (CEF-PSI) and O2-dependent alternative pathways including the water–water cycle in fluctuating light, we grew the wild type and pgr5 mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana in constant light, and measured Chl fluorescence and P700 parameters in their leaves in the fluctuating light alternating between 240 (HL) and 30 µmol photons m−2 s−2 (LL) every 2 min. At 20% O2, the photochemical quantum yield of PSII decreased, in particular in the pgr5 plants, soon after the start of the fluctuating light treatment. PSI of the pgr5 plants was markedly photoinhibited by this treatment for 42 min. Slight PSI photoinhibition was also observed in the wild type. We measured energy sharing between PSII and PSI and estimated the PSI and PSII electron transport rates (ETRs). pgr5 showed larger energy allocation to PSI. In contrast to the wild type, the ratio of the PSI to the PSII ETR in pgr5 was higher in LL but lower in HL at 20% O2 due to PSI acceptor-side limitation. At 2.7% or 0% O2, the CEF-PSI of the pgr5 plants was enhanced, the acceptor-side limitation of PSI electron flow was released and PSI photoinhibition was not observed. The results suggest that the light fluctuation is a potent stress to PSI and that the CEF-PSI is essential to protect PSI from this stress.