The measurement of carbon isotope discrimination (∆) provides an integrated insight into theresponse of plants to environmental change. To investigate the potential use of ∆ for identifyingshade tolerance in rice, five rice varieties were selected and artificially shaded (53% lightreduction) during the grain-filling period in 2010 and 2011, in Sichuan, China. Shadingtreatment had a significant ...

The principle of quantifying the efficiency of protection of photosystem II (PSII) reaction centres against photoinhibition by non-photochemical energy dissipation (NPQ) has been recently introduced by Ruban & Murchie (2012 Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1817, 977-982 (doi:10.1016/j.bbabio.2012.03.026)). This is based upon the assessment of two key parameters: (i) the relationship between the PSII yiel...

To prevent photo-oxidative damage to the photosynthetic membrane in strong light, plants dissipate excess absorbed light energy as heat in a mechanism known as non-photochemical quenching (NPQ). NPQ is triggered by the trans-membrane proton gradient (ΔpH), which causes the protonation of the photosystem II light-harvesting antenna (LHCII) and the PsbS protein, as well as the de-epoxidation of t...

Exposure of Arabidopsis thaliana young and mature leaves to the herbicide paraquat (Pq) resulted in a localized increase of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in the leaf veins and the neighboring mesophyll cells, but this increase was not similar in the two leaf types. Increased H2O2 production was concomitant with closed reaction centers (qP). Thirty min after Pq exposure despite the induction of the p...

MicroRNA-based gene silencing is a functional genomics tool for a wide range of eukaryotes. As a basis for broader application of virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) to photosynthesis research, we employed a tobacco rattle virus (TRV) vector to silence expression of the nuclear psbS gene in Nicotiana benthamiana. The 22-kiloDalton psbS protein is essential for xanthophylland H-dependent thermal...

The goal of the current research was to study the role of anthocyanin accumulation, O(2)-related photochemical processes and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) in the response of desert and Mediterranean plants to drought and excessive light. Plants of Hordeum spontaneum were collected from Mediterranean and desert environments and were subjected to terminal drought for 25 days and then measured...

BACKGROUND No available measure exists for postirradiation neck disability. Adoption of the Chinese Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire (NPQ) for patients with postirradiation neck disability was examined in this study. METHODS Eight physiotherapists and five patients were invited to test the validity of the content. Forty-three patients with neck disability were recruited to evaluate test...

Nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) is a photoprotective regulatory mechanism employed by many photosynthetic organisms to dynamically modulate energy flow within the photosynthetic apparatus in response to fluctuating light conditions. Activated by decreases in lumen pH produced during periods of high photon flux, NPQ induces rapid thermal dissipation of excess excitation energy. As a result, the...