Biophysical studies of photosystem II-related recovery processes after a heat pulse in barley seedlings (Hordeum vulgare L.)

In the first 4 h in the light following the heat pulse, the AT-band and the K-step disappeared in parallel, indicating the loss of this restricted activity of PSII. This phase was followed by a recovery period, during which PSII-activity was gradually restored in the light. In darkness, no recovery, except for the membrane permeability, was observed. A model is presented that accounts for (i) the damage induced by the heat pulse on the membrane architecture and on the PSII donor side, (ii) the light-dependent removal of the impaired reaction centers from the disorganized membrane, and (iii) the subsequent light-independent restoration of the membrane permeability and the de novo synthesis of the PSII reaction centers in the light.