Daily xanthophyll cycle photoprotection in developing leaves prior to photosynthesis
Abstract
There is widespread agreement that the xanthophyll cycle provides a major photoprotection system for photosynthesis in green leaves.Indeed this type of photoprotection seem to be ubiquitous for photosynthetic organisms. Photoprotection is provided via a rapid, near 10-2013 sec, ability of zeaxanthin (Z) to dissipate excess light energy from photosynthesis because the energy of the excited singlet state of Z is lower than that of chlorophyll a.