Photosynthesis supports most life on Earth through the conversion of light energy, H2O, and CO2 to chemical energy. Photosynthetic organisms have evolved to maximize the capability to capture light energy, allowing organisms to grow even in very low light environments. However, light intensity and quality oscillate throughout the day and the annual seasons and, therefore, photosynthetic organisms may need to acclimate from very low to extremely high light intensities on a time scale that ranges from seconds to months (e.g. cloudy days, winter-summer periods, etc.). During high light conditions or nutrient deprivation, when light absorption exceeds the capacity for carbon dioxide fixation, the excess absorbed energy can elicit the generation of reactive oxygen species that cause severe oxidative damage. Coping with a dynamic environment requires critical adaptations of the photosynthetic apparatus to optimize photosynthetic efficiency while at the same time minimizing phototoxic effects. In this project, we study the mechanism called non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) that alleviates this photo-oxidative stress in the timescale of seconds to minutes. This NPQ is critical to protect the integrity of the photosynthetic apparatus, allowing the organisms to survive in conditions of excess light energy.
The study of NPQ regulation is essential to predict how photosynthetic organisms will behave under changes in light, atmospheric CO2 levels, temperature and nutrient availability, and, therefore, it will also impact strategies for improving photosynthetic efficiency and tolerance to harsh conditions. A better understanding of these processes at the molecular level has already allowed improving crop productivity by 15% in tobacco. In addition, beyond the ecological implications, this project might have a significant impact on the use of photosynthetic organisms for biotechnological purposes. Microalgae, widely used in industry, waste a large part of the absorbed solar radiation as heat (NPQ). The study of NPQ regulation and the capacity to control it can improve both the production of biomass and the synthesis and accumulation of high-value products.
NPQ mechanisms vary between plants and photosynthetic microbes. In plants, the PSBS protein works in collaboration with the light-harvesting complexes (LHCs) to mediate this process in chloroplasts, but in photosynthetic microorganisms, there exist other proteins involved in the fast NPQ (LHCSRs and LHCXs in algae and diatoms respectively, or OCP in cyanobacteria). Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the model green alga used in this project, is one of the few organisms having genes encoding PSBSs and LHCSRs proteins on its genome. However, we know very little about the regulation and role of these proteins in NPQ. Our goals are to understand the regulation of LHCSRs and PSBS expression in a wide variety of physiological conditions (different light intensity and quality, CO2 concentrations and nutrient deprivation), to characterize their role and to identify molecular signals that control the induction and functionality of NPQ.
