Water stress-sensitized photoinhibition in senescing cotyledons of clusterbean: Changes in thylakoid structures and inactivation of photosystem 2

Seedlings of Cyamopsis tetragonoloba were grown on Petri dishes either in water or water plus 3 % PEG-6000 to induce water stress. The senescing cotyledons experiencing the stress exhibited loss in contents of leaf proteins and chlorophyll (Chl) and a decline in oxygen evolution. The effect of PEG treatment was more pronounced at moderate (MI) than low (LI) irradiance. The stress-induced loss in the activity of superoxide dismutase and increase in the thylakoid lipid peroxidation accompanied a change in the physical status of the bilayer membrane as demonstrated by an enhancement of room temperature Chl a fluorescence polarization and decrease in energy transfer efficiency in pigment assembly. This resulted in a sustained decrease in photosystem 2 activity blocking channels of energy utilization. The absorbed quanta, thus unutilized, were excess even at MI, leading to photoinhibitory response.