The xanthophyll cycle and sustained thermal energy dissipation activity in Vinca minor and Euonymus kiautschovicus in winter

The influence of low temperature on the operation of the xanthophyll cycle and energy dissipation activity, as ascertained through measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence, was examined in two broad‐leaved evergreen species, Vinca minor L. and Euonymus kiautschovicus Loessner. In leaves examined under laboratory conditions, energy dissipation activity developed more slowly at lower leaf temperatures, but the final, steady‐state level of such activity was greater at lower temperatures where the rate of energy utilization (through photosynthetic electron transport) was much lower. The rate at which energy dissipation activity increased was similar to that of the de‐epoxidation of violaxanthin to antheraxanthin and zea‐xanthin at different temperatures. However, leaves in the field examined prior to sunrise on mornings following cold days and nights exhibited a retention of antheraxanthin and zeaxanthin that was associated with sustained decreases in photosystem II efficiency. We therefore suggest that this phenomenon of ‘photoinhibition’ in response to light and cold temperatures during the winter results from sustained photoprotective thermal energy dissipation associated with the xanthophyll cycle. Such retention of the de‐epoxidized components of the xanthophyll cycle responded to day‐to‐day changes in temperature, being greatest on the coldest mornings (when photoprotective energy dissipation might be most required) and less on warmer mornings when photosynthesis could presumably proceed at higher rates.