Thylakoid membrane reorganization, induced by growth light intensity, affects the plants susceptibility to drought stress

Abstract

One of the major questions in photosynthesis research is related to the role of the ultrastructure of thylakoid membranes in higher plants for their functional performance at optimal and stress environmental conditions. In this work, we compared the drought stress response of pea plants grown at moderate and low light conditions, based on our recent findings that they differ in the extent of grana stacking and in the thermal stability of the major light-harvesting complex of PSII that plays important regulatory role for plant survival. Our data demonstrate that low light-adapted plants are structurally and functionally less affected by the water deficit, strongly suggesting a major role of thylakoid structural organization for drought stress response.