Current Understanding of the Mechanism of qE, a Major Component of Non-photochemical Quenching in Green Plants

Plants dissipate excess excitation energy from their photosynthetic apparatus by a process called non-photochemical quenching (NPQ). The major part of NPQ is energy dependent quenching (qE) which is dependent on the thylakoid pH and regulated by xanthophyll cycle carotenoids associated with photosystem (PS) II of higher plants. The acidification of the lumen leads to protonation and thus conformational change of light harvesting complex (LHC) proteins as well as PsbS protein of PSII, which results in the induction of qE. Although physiological importance of qE has been well established, the mechanistic understanding is rather insufficient. However, recent finding of crystal structure of LHCII trimer and identification of qE mutants in higher plants and algae enrich and sharpen our understanding of this process. This review summarizes our current knowledge on the qE mechanism. The nature of quenching sites and components involved in this process, and their contribution and interaction for the generation of qE appeared in the proposed models for the qE mechanism are discussed.