Hysteresis light curves: a protocol for characterizing the time dependence of the light response of photosynthesis

Photosynthesis vs. light curves (LCs) have played a central role in photosynthesis research for decades. They are the commonest form of describing how photosynthesis responds to changes in light, being frequently used for characterizing photoacclimation. However, LCs are often interpreted exclusively regarding the response to light intensity, the effects of time of exposure not being explicitly considered. This study proposes the use of ‘hysteresis light curves’ (HLC), an experimental protocol focused on the cumulative effects of light exposure to obtain information on the time dependence of photosynthetic light responses. HLC are generated by exposing samples to a symmetrical sequence of increasing and decreasing light levels. The comparison of the light-increasing and the light-decreasing phases allows the quantification of the hysteresis caused by high-light exposure, the magnitude and direction of which inform on the activation, and subsequent relaxation of high-light-induced photosynthetic processes. HLCs of the chlorophyll fluorescence indices rETR (relative electron transport rate of photosystem II) and Y(NPQ) (index of non-photochemical quenching) were measured on cyanobacteria, algae, and plants, with the aim of identifying main patterns of hysteresis and their diversity. A non-parametric index is proposed to quantify the magnitude and direction of hysteresis in HLCs of rETR and Y(NPQ). The results of this study show that HLCs can provide additional relevant information on the time dependence of the light response of photosynthetic samples, not obtainable from conventional LCs, useful for phenotyping photosynthetic traits, including photoacclimation state and kinetics of light activation and relaxation of electron flow and energy dissipation processes.