Cyclic electron transport around photosystem-I, and the associated cyclic photophosphorylation process in chloroplasts is enabled by two pathways, which depend on the PGR5 protein and the chloroplast NADH dehydrogenase-like complex, respectively. When both pathways are defective, photosynthesis and plant growth are significantly impaired. The pgr5 mutant of Arabidopsis is particularly sensitive to fluctuations in light intensity, which can lead to photodamage of photosystem-I. The lecture will discuss the molecular mechanism of the photoprotection of photosystem-I, afforded by this cyclic electron transport process.
Photograph by Reinhard Bachofel, University of California, Berkeley, Summer 1988.
The Arnon Lecture honors the late Professor Daniel I. Arnon (1910-1994). Arnon spent his career at Berkeley, obtaining his Ph.D. in plant biochemistry with Dennis R. Hoagland and later joining the faculty. He is best known for his pioneering research in the fields of photosynthesis and plant biochemistry. His career is recounted in a memoir written for the National Academy of Sciences. The lecture is held annually in early March. Speakers have made distinguished contributions to photosynthesis or a related field and are selected by the Arnon Lecture Committee.
Arnon Lectures
2000 Paul D. Boyer
2001 George H. Lorimer
2002 Bob B. Buchanan
2003 Jan M. Anderson
2004* Jean-David Rochaix
2004* F.R. Whatley
2005 Joanne Chory
2006 William A. Cramer
2007 Achim Trebst
2008 James Barber
2009 Elisabeth Gantt
2010 Arnon Centennial Symposium at Asilomar**
2011 Jürgen Soll
2012 Don Bryant
2013 Mark Stitt
2014 Robert Blankenship
2015 Roberto Bassi
2016 Eva Mari-Aro
2017 Arthur Grossman
2018 Toshiharu Hase
2019 Francis-Andre Wollman
2020 Petra Fromme
2021 Susan Golden
2022 Himadri Pakrasi
2023 J. Clark Lagarias
2024 Toshiharu Shikanai
* Two lectures held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the discovery of photophospphorylation
** No lecturer chosen this year
Upcoming Arnon Endowed Lectures
There are no upcoming events, please check back for future listings.
For a schedule of all Plant & Microbial Biology events, seminars, and lectures visit our calendar.
Past Arnon Endowed Lectures
J. Clark Lagarias: [Arnon Lecture] Bilins Everywhere: More than light harvesting
My lecture will focus on the origins, biochemistry and evolution of this diversity and will touch upon the surprising evidence that oxygenic photosynthesis is dependent on bilins for sustained chlorophyll synthesis in an oxic world.
Susan Golden: Arnon Lecture: Circadian regulation of gene expression in vivo and in vitro
Susan Golden received a B.A. (1978) in Biology from Mississippi University for Women and a Ph.D. (1983) in Genetics from the University of Missouri. After postdoctoral research at the University of Chicago, she joined the faculty of Biology at Texas A&M University (1986).
View video below:
Petra Fromme: Arnon Lecture: Toward Molecular Movies of Photosynthesis "in Action" with X-Ray Free Electron Lasers
Petra Fromme received her B.S. (Vordiplom) and M.S. (Diplom) in Biochemistry from the Free University of Berlin, received her Ph.D. in chemistry and did her habilitation in physical chemistry at the Technical University of Berlin.
Francis-André Wollman: Arnon Lecture: The chloroplast: a site of post-endosymbiotic innovations in gene expression and protein assembly
Dr. Wollman is the Director of the Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique in Paris, France. His work is dedicated to the study of the biogenesis and the function of the photosynthetic apparatus, which is present in the network of internal membranes of the chloroplast, the thylacoids.
Toshiharu Hase: Arnon Lecture: Ferredoxin - protein interactions and energy transduction in Photosynthesis
Dr. Hase is Professor Emeritus of Osaka University and formerly affiliated to the Institute of Protein Research at Osaka University. His research interests include photosynthetic electron transfer, ferredoxin-dependent redox metabolisms and the structure/function of redox enzymes.