Acquired tolerance of the photosynthetic apparatus to photoinhibition as a result of growing Solanum lycopersicum at moderately higher temperature and light intensity

The kinetics of photoinhibition in detached leaves from tomato plants (Solanium lycopersicum L. cv. M82) grown for 6 days under different combinations of optimal and moderately high temperature and optimal and high light intensity were studied. The inhibition of PSII was evaluated by changes in maximal quantum yield, the coefficient of photochemical quenching and the quantum yield of PSII. The changes of PSI activity was estimated by the redox state of P700. The involvement of different possible protective processes was checked by determination of nonphotochemical quenching and cyclic electron flow around PSI. To evaluate to what extent the photosynthetic apparatus and its response to high light treatment was affected by growth conditions, the kinetics of photoinhibition in isolated thylakoid membranes were also studied. The photochemical activities of both photosystems and changes in the energy distribution and interactions between them were evaluated by means of a Clark electrode and 77 K fluorescence analysis. The data showed an increased tolerance to photoinhibition in plants grown under a combination of moderately high temperature and light intensity, which was related to the stimulation of cyclic electron flow, PSI activity and rearrangements of pigment-protein complexes, leading to a decrease in the excitation energy delivered to PSII.