The samples were treated for 10 min at the specified temperatures before loading on the gel Chlorophyll a fluorescence lifetime The functional activity of the photosystems was studied with the aid of Chl a fluorescence lifetime measurements, using microscopic

(FLIM) and macroscopic (TCSPC) measurements. The FLIM images are plotted in Fig. 3a, b (WT) and c, d (dgd1). The recorded fluorescence originates from Chls in the chloroplasts. Thus, the bright spots in the intensity images (Fig. 3a, c) originate from distinct chloroplasts. Their shape is not well defined in the FLIM images due to the fact that the Sotrastaurin brightness of the PF-01367338 chemical structure individual organelles is proportional to the intensity of the fluorescence emission. Therefore, the chloroplasts being located in the focal plane are observed as bright objects, whereas the lower intensity pixels probably represent somewhat out-of-focus chloroplasts. The fluorescence decay traces recorded find more for each pixel were analyzed by a three-exponential model from which an average lifetime per pixel was calculated. These average lifetimes are plotted in Fig. 3b and d for the WT and dgd1, respectively. The sum of the decay curves recorded for all the pixels in the image of WT and dgd1 leaves is presented in

Fig. 3e. The distribution histogram of the average lifetime is presented in Fig. 3f, which also clearly shows that it is longer for the mutant—the average fluorescence lifetime in the majority of the pixels of the WT-image is 180–220 ps, whereas for the dgd1-image it is about 250–300 ps. Fig. 3 FLIM results on dark-adapted detached WT and

dgd1 leaves. The fluorescence images are shown in panel (a) for the WT, and panel (c) for dgd1. The color-coded average fluorescence lifetime images are presented in panel (b) for the WT and panel (d) for dgd1. Scale bars, 20 μm. The decay traces recorded for each pixel in the images were added, and their sums are presented in panel (e) for the WT (green trace) and dgd1 (blue trace). The histograms of the average lifetimes, obtained from a total of 4,096 pixels for each sample, and plotted with 3 ps steps, are given in panel (f) (green curve for the WT and blue PLEK2 for dgd1). The dashed lines represent the average lifetime values for WT and dgd1, obtained for isolated thylakoid membranes by TCSPC at 25°C The FLIM setup used can only be applied for measurements at 22°C. In order to check the temperature dependence of the average Chl a fluorescence lifetime (τave), it was determined for isolated intact thylakoid membranes using the TCSPC technique. The fluorescence decay curves for WT and dgd1 are shown in Fig. 4a and the parameters obtained from the fit are plotted as a table in the figure. At 25°C, the fitting analysis results in longer fluorescence lifetimes for dgd1 than for WT − τave = 202 ± 5 ps for WT and 236 ± 13 ps for dgd1 (Fig. 4b); these values are similar to the ones determined using the FLIM technique (Fig. 3e).