Overexpression of BUNDLE SHEATH DEFECTIVE 2 improves the efficiency of photosynthesis and growth in Arabidopsis.

Bundle Sheath Defective 2, BSD2, is a stroma-targeted protein initially identified as a factor required for the biogenesis of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) in maize. Plants and algae universally have a homologous gene for BSD2 and its deficiency causes a RuBisCO-less phenotype. As RuBisCO can be the rate-limiting step in CO assimilation, the overexpression of BSD2 might improve photosynthesis and productivity through the accumulation of RuBisCO.

The solar action spectrum of photosystem II damage.

The production of oxygen and the supply of energy for life on earth rely on the process of photosynthesis using sunlight. Paradoxically, sunlight damages the photosynthetic machinery, primarily photosystem II (PSII), leading to photoinhibition and loss of plant performance. However, there is uncertainty about which wavelengths are most damaging to PSII under sunlight.

How does cyclic electron flow alleviate photoinhibition in Arabidopsis?

Cyclic electron flow (CEF) around photosystem I has a role in avoiding photoinhibition of photosystem II (PSII), which occurs under conditions in which the rate of photodamage to PSII exceeds the rate of its repair. However, the molecular mechanism underlying how CEF contributes to photoprotection is not yet well understood. We examined the effect of impairment of CEF and thermal energy dissipation (qE) on photoinhibition using CEF (pgr5) and qE (npq1 and npq4) mutants of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) exposed to strong light.