Characterization of the wave phenomenon of flash-induced chlorophyll fluorescence in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Flash-induced chlorophyll fluorescence relaxation is a powerful tool to monitor the reoxidation reactions of the reduced primary quinone acceptor, Q A − by Q B and the plastoquinone (PQ) pool, as well as the charge recombination reactions between the donor and acceptor side components of Photosystem II (PSII). Under certain conditions, when the PQ pool is highly reduced (e.g. in microaerobic conditions), a wave phenomenon appears in the fluorescence relaxation kinetics, which reflects the transient reoxidation and re-reduction of Q A − by various electron transfer processes, which in cyanobacteria is mediated by NAD(P)H dehydrogenase (NDH-1). The wave phenomenon was also observed and assigned to the operation of type 2 NAD(P)H dehydrogenase (NDH-2) in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii under hydrogen-producing conditions, which required a long incubation of algae under sulphur deprivation (Krishna et al. J Exp Bot 70 (21):6321–6336, 2019). However, the conditions that induce the wave remained largely uncharacterized so far in microalgae. In this work, we investigated the wave phenomenon in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii under conditions that lead to a decrease of PSII activity by applying hydroxylamine treatment, which impacts the donor side of PSII in combination with a strongly reducing environment of the PQ pool (microaerobic conditions). A similar wave phenomenon could be induced by photoinhibitory conditions (illumination with strong light in the presence of the protein synthesis inhibitor lincomycin). These results indicate that the fluorescence wave phenomenon is activated in green algae when the PSII activity decreases relative to Photosystem I (PS I) activity and the PQ pool is strongly reduced. Therefore, the fluorescence wave could be used as a sensitive indicator of altered intersystem electron transfer processes, e.g. under stress conditions.