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Abstract: Oxygen consumption in Mn-depleted photosystem II (PSII) preparations under continuous and pulsed illumination is investigated. It is shown that removal of manganese from the water-oxidizing complex (WOC) by high pH treatment leads to a 6-fold increase in the rate of O2 photoconsumption. The use of exogenous electron acceptors and donors to PSII shows that in Mn-depleted PSII preparations along with the well-known effect of O2 photoreduction on the acceptor side of PSII, there is light-induced O2 consumption on the donor side of PSII (nearly 30% and 70%, respectively). It is suggested that the light-induced O2 uptake on the donor side of PSII is related to interaction of O2 with radicals produced by photooxidation of organic molecules. The study of flash-induced O2 uptake finds that removal of Mn from the WOC leads to O2 photoconsumption with maximum in the first flash, and its yield is comparable with the yield of O2 evolution on the third flash measured in the PSII samples before Mn removal. The flash-induced O2 uptake is drastically (by a factor of 1.8) activated by catalytic concentration (5–10μM, corresponding to 2–4 Mn per RC) of Mn2+, while at higher concentrations (>100μM) Mn2+ inhibits the O2 photoconsumption (like other electron donors: ferrocyanide and diphenylcarbazide). Inhibitory pre-illumination of the Mn-depleted PSII preparations (resulting in the loss of electron donation from Mn2+) leads to both suppression of flash-induced O2 uptake and disappearance of the Mn-induced activation of the O2 photoconsumption. We assume that the light-induced O2 uptake in Mn-depleted PSII preparations may reflect not only the negative processes leading to photoinhibition but also possible participation of O2 or its reactive forms in the formation of the inorganic core of the WOC. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]