LHCII organization and thylakoid lipids affect the sensitivity of the photosynthetic apparatus to high-light treatment

Pulse-amplitude-modulated (PAM) chlorophyll fluorescence and photosynthetic oxygen evolution were used to investigate the role of the different amount and organization of light-harvesting complexes of photosystem II (LHCII) in four pea species on the susceptibility of the photosynthetic apparatus to high-light treatment. In this work we analyzed the thylakoid membrane lipid composition of the studied pea plants. A relationship between the structural organization of LHCII proteins, the amount of the main lipid classes and the sensitivity of the photosynthetic apparatus to high-light treatment was found. The results reveal that the photosynthetic apparatus, enriched in oligomeric forms of LHCII concomitant with decreased amount of anionic lipids and increased content of the monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG), is less sensitive to high light. Our data also suggest that the degree of LHCII oligomerization, as well as the lipid composition do not influence the degree of recovery of the PSII photochemistry after excess light exposure.