Control of the light harvesting function of chloroplast membranes: The LHCII‐aggregation model for non‐photochemical quenching

Abstract
Dissipation of excess excitation energy within the photosystem II light‐harvesting antenna (LHCII) by non‐photochemical quenching (NPQ) is an important photoprotective process in plants. An update to a hypothesis for the mechanism of NPQ [FEBS Letters 292, 1991] is presented. The impact of recent advances in understanding the structure, organisation and photophysics of LHCII is assessed. We show possible locations of the predicted regulatory and quenching pigment‐binding sites in the structural model of the major LHCII. We suggest that NPQ is a highly regulated concerted response of the organised thylakoid macrostructure, which can include different mechanisms and sites at different times.

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