Control of the maximal chlorophyll fluorescence yield by the QB binding site.

Differences in maximal yields of chlorophyll variable fluorescence (Fm) induced by single turnover (ST) and multiple turnover (MT) excitation are as great as 40%. Using mutants of <italic>Chlamydomonas reinhardtii</italic> we investigated potential mechanisms controlling Fm above and beyond the QA redox level. Fm was low when the QB binding site was occupied by PQ and high when the QB binding site was empty or occupied by a PSII herbicide. Furthermore, in mutants with impaired rates of plastoquinol reoxidation, Fm was reached rapidly during MT excitation. In PSII particles with no mobile PQ pool, Fm was virtually identical to that obtained in the presence of PSII herbicides. We have developed a model to account for the variations in maximal fluorescence yields based on the occupancy of the QB binding site. The model predicts that the variations in maximal fluorescence yields are caused by the capacity of secondary electron acceptors to reoxidize QA-. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]