Predicting light acclimation in cyanobacteria from nonphotochemical quenching of photosystem II fluorescence, which reflects state transitions in these organisms

An important factor in photosynthetic ecophysiology is the light regime that a photobiont is acclimated to exploit. In a wide range of cyanobacteria and cyano-lichens, the easily measured fluorescence parameters, coefficient of nonphotochemical quenching of photosystem II variable fluorescence (q(N)) and nonphotochemical quenching, decline to a minimum near the acclimated growth light intensity. This characteristic pattern predicts the integrated light regime to which populations are acclimated, information that is particularly useful for cyanobacteria or cyano-lichens from habitats with highly variable light intensities. q(N) reflects processes that compete with photosystem II photochemistry for absorbed excitation energy. In cyanobacteria, we find no evidence for energy-dependent quenching mechanisms, which are the predominant components of q(N) in higher plants. Instead, in cyanobacteria, q(N) correlates closely with the excitation flow from the phycobilisome to photosystem I, indicating that q(N) reflects the state transition mechanism for equilibration of excitation from the phycobilisome to the two photosystems.