• Journal of Plant Biology
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.309-314
• /
• 1996

Developmental of photosynthetic pigments and changes in chlorophyll fluorescence of dark-grown rice seedlings were studied during greening. Light-illumination stimulated accumulations of total chlorophylls and carotenoids in leaves of etiolated seedlings, accompanied by a decrease in the ratio of chlorophyll a to chlorophyll b. When the composition of carotenoids was analyzed, violaxanthin level was shown to increase up to 24 h after the beginning of light illumination, followed by a subsequent decline. In contrast to this, zeaxanthin level increased consistently with progress of deetiolatin. The role of zeaxanthin is discussed in relation to chlorophyll fluorescence quenching. A study on chlorophyll fluorescence kinetics of the rice seedlings being deetiolated showed a time-dependent increase in Fv/Fm (yield of variable fluorescence/maximum yield of fluoresecnece) ratios, indicating that greening is responsible for the activation of photochemical reaction centers of the photosystem. When chlorophyll fluorescence quenching was examined, qNP (nonphotochemical quenching) and qE (energy-dependent quenching) exhibited a time-dependent decline with progress of greening. The presented results indicate that greening-induced development of the photosynthetic machinery is associated the conversion of the carotenoid violaxanthin to zeaxanthin, suggesting that zeaxanthin synthesized in the illuminated leaves may provide the protection from the damage when etiolated plants are exposed to light.

• Journal of Photoscience
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.175-183
• /
• 2005

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.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.1479-1484
• /
• 2010

Photosynthesis uses light energy to drive the oxidation of water at an oxygen-evolving catalytic site within photosystem II (PSII). Chlorophyll binding by the photosystem II subunit S protein, PsbS, was found to be necessary for energy-dependent quenching (qE), the major energy-dependent component of non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) in Arabidopsis thaliana. It is proposed that PsbS acts as a trigger of the conformational change that leads to the establishment of nonphotochemical quenching. However, the exact structure and function of PsbS in PSII are still unknown. Here, we clone and express the recombinant PsbS gene from Arabidopsis thaliana in E. coli and purify the resulting homogeneous protein. We used various biochemical and biophysical techniques to elucidate PsbS structure and function, including circular dichroism (CD), fluorescence, and DSC. The protein shows optimal stability at $4^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.5. The CD spectra of PsbS show that the conformational changes of the protein were strongly dependent on pH conditions. The CD curve for PsbS at pH 10.5 curve had the deepest negative peak and the peak of PsbS at pH 4.5 was the least negative. The fluorescence emission spectrum of the purified PsbS protein was also measured, and the ${\lambda}_{max}$ was found to be at 328 nm. PsbS revealed some structural changes under varying temperature and oxygen gas condition.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.91-93
• /
• 2018

Polythiophene-$TiO_2$ composite was synthesized with different molar ratios of thiophene and titaniumisopropoxide ($Ti(OPr)_4$) for flexible solar cell application as a flexible electrode or an active material. The $Ti(OPr)_4$ was stabilized by thiophene. The thiophene was polymerized by ferric chloride catalyst. The synthesized polythiophene exhibited strong UV-visible absorption in the range of the wavelength shorter than 500 nm. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) image of low concentration of $TiO_2$ film showed smooth surface. However, FESEM image of high concentration of $TiO_2$ film exhibited relatively rough surface. Polythiophene concentration dependent strong photoluminescence quenching of surfrhodamine-B was observed.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.325-331
• /
• 1992

By using the general theoretical framework proposed recently for treating the fluorescence quenching kinetics, we investigate the effect of light pulse intensity on the decay of fluorescence which follows excitation of fluorophors by the light pulse of very short but finite duration. It is seen that conventional theory breaks down when the exciting light pulse has a pulse width comparable to the fluorescent lifetime and its intensity is very high. We also find that even when the light intensity is not too high, conventional theory may fail in either of the following cases: (i) when the quencher concentration is high, (ii) when there is an attractive potential of mean force between the fluorophor and quencher, or (iii) when the energy transfer from the fluorophor to the quencher may also occur at a distance, e.g., via dipole-dipole interaction. The validity of the predictions of the present theory may thus be tested by fluorescence quenching experiments performed under such situations.

• Journal of Photoscience
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.9-14
• /
• 1996

For three cultivars of chilling-sensitive cucumber plants, chilling sensitivity was evaluated in terms of photosynthetic activity using Chl fluorescence techniques. Low-temperature treatment caused a decrease in photosynthetic activities of cucumber leaves, measured as CO$_2$ exchange, as well as the decrease in the stomatal conductance. FR of the three cultivars decreased after chilling for 24 h in light and the extent of decline of F$_R$ was the greatest in 'Chosaeng' cultivar. When these plants were recovered from light-chilling, 'Chosaeng' and 'Samchuk' cultivars did not fully restore the original value of F$_R$ after 24 h of recovery, in contrast to 'Ilmi' cultivar which showed a rather efficient recovery. The results of FR study showed that 'Chosaeng' was most susceptible, whereas Ilmi was most resistant, to chilling among the three cultivars of cucumber plants. When quenching coefficients for chlorophyll fluorescence was analyzed after chilling the cucumber plants for 24 h in light, 'Chosaeng' elicited more rapid declines in the coefficients for photochemical quenching (qQ), non-photochemical quenching (qNP) and energy-dependent quenching (qE) than 'Ilmi' and 'Samchuk'. The implications of these observations are discussed in relation to the growth habits of the respective cultivars in the field. The results showed that measurement of chlorophyll fluorescence was an effective means of screening chilling tolerance of cucumber plants. Furthermore, the study on the chlorophyll fluorescence induction and fluorescence quenching charactersitics showed that low temperature could accelerate inhibition of photosynthesis in chilling-sensitive plants, by limiting Calvin cycle activity and disrupting, in part, the energy dissipation mechanims of the photosystem II.

• Journal of Photoscience
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.33-39
• /
• 2005

Plants possess the ability to dissipate the excitation energy for the protection of photosynthetic apparatus from absorbed excess light. Heat dissipation is regulated by xanthophyll cycle in thylakoid membranes of chloroplasts. We investigated the mechanistic aspects of xanthophyll cycle-dependent photoprotection against low-temperature photoinhibition in plants. Using barley and rice as chilling-resistant species and sensitive ones, respectively, chilling-induced chlorophyll fluorescence quenching, composition of xanthophyll cycle pigments and mRNA expression of the zeaxanthin epoxidase were examined. Chilled barley plants exhibited little changes in chlorophyll fluorescence quenching either of photochemical or non-photochemical nature and in the photosynthetic electron transport, indicating low reduction state of PS II primary electron acceptor. In contrast to the barley, chilled rice showed a marked decline in those parameters mentioned above, indicating the increased reduction state of PS II primary electron acceptor. In addition, barley plants were shown to have a higher capacity to elevate the pool size of xanthophyll cycle pigments in response to cold stress compared to rice plants. Such species-dependent regulation of xanthophyll cycle activity was correlated with the gene expression level of cold-induced zeaxanthin epoxidase. Chilled rice plants depressed the gene expression of zeaxanthin epoxidase, whereas barley increased its expression in response to cold stress. We suggest that chilling-induced alterations in the pool size of xanthophyll cycle pigments related to its capacity would play an important role in regulating plant's sensitivity to chilling stress.

• Journal of Photoscience
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.53-61
• /
• 1998

Using a squash plant, a chilling-sensitive species, and a spinach plant, a chilling-resistant one, effects of chilling temperature on the photosynthetic machinery were studied in terms of chlorophyll fluorescence. When thylakoid membranes were isolated and subjected to incubation at different temperatures, spinach showed stable photosystem II activity at the low temperature side, in contrast to squash which showed quite severe inactivation at low temperature. When parameters of chlorophyll fluorescence were examined, chilling in darkness did not affect either Fv/Fm or photochemical and non-photochemical quenching, in both types of plants. However, chilling of squash plants under irradiance of medium intensity caused a specific decrease in Fv/Fm accompanied by a decline in energy-dependent quenching. Contrastingly, photosystem li of spinach plants were not much affected by light-chilling. When the pool size of zeaxanthin was examined after exposure to high light at different temperatures, squash plants was shown to have a much lower content of antheraxanthin + zeaxanthin, as compared to spinach plants, during low-temperature photoinhibition. These results suggest that chilling-sensitive plants have low capacity to dissipate excitation energy nonradiatively, when they are exposed to low-temperature photoinhibition, and, as a consequence, more vulnerable to photoinhibitory, damage to the photosynthetic apparatus.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.51 no.1
• /
• pp.249-256
• /
• 2019

The 9Cr-1Mo ferritic-martensitic ODS steel is a promising structural material for the next generation nuclear power plants including fast reactors for application in reactor vessels and nuclear fuel. The ODS steel was cooled down by furnace cooling, air cooling, oil quenching and water quenching, respectively, after normalizing it at $1150^{\circ}C$ for 1 h and then tempering at $780^{\circ}C$ for 1 h. It is found that grain size, a relative portion of ferrite and martensite, martensitic lath configuration, behaviors of carbide precipitates, and hardness of the ODS steel are strongly dependent on a cooling rate. The grain size and martensitic lath width become smaller with the increase in a cooling rate. The carbides were precipitated at the grain boundaries formed between the ferrite and martensite phases and at the martensitic lath interfaces. In addition, the carbide precipitates become smaller and more widely dispersed with the increase in a cooling rate, resulting in that the faster cooling rate generated the higher hardness of the ODS steel.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.1.1-11
• /
• 1992

To find heavy metal-specific effects on the photosynthetic apparatus of higher plants, we investigated effects of $CuCl_2$, HgCl_2$ and $ZnCl_2$ on electron transport activity and chlorophyll fluorescence induction kinetics of chloroplasts isolated from barley seedlings. Effects on some related processes such as germination, growth and photosynthetic pigments of the test plants were also studied. Germination and growth rate were inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner by these metals. Mercury was shown to be the most potent inhibitor of germination, growth and biosynthesis of photosynthetic pigments of barley plants. In the inhibition of electron transport activity, quantum yield of PS II, and chlorophyll fluorescence induction kinetics of chloroplasts isolated from barley seedlings, mercury chloride showed more pronounced effects than other two metals. Contrary to the effects of other two metals, mercury chloride increased variable fluorescence significantly and abolished qE in the fluorescence induction kinetics from broken chloroplasts of barley seedlings. This increase in variable fluorescence is due to the inhibition of the electron transport chain after PS ll and the following dark reactions. The inhibition of qE could be attributed to the interruption of pH formation and do-epoxidation of violaxathin to zeaxanthin in thylakoids by mercury. This unique effect of mercury on chlorophyll fluorescence induction pattern could be used as a good indicator for testing the presence and/or the concentration of mercury in the samples contaminated with heavy metals.