Determining the open fraction of PSII reaction center from fluorescence measurements without saturating flashes

While cholorophyll fluorescence (CF) can provide many information on plant's performance, it can do so on a relatively small scale (single leaf) and requires specfic measurments protocol, like saturating flashes. In the optic of an adaptive climate control (dynamicly adjustement environmental conditions based on the crop status) of production system such as vertical farms or greenhouses, CF appears as a promosing tool. However, for this purpose, CF should be measured at the canopy scale (by intergrating all visible leaf's response) and provide relevant information, without the need of saturating flashes. This study will investigate if the open fraction of PSII reaction centers (qL), normally obtained with saturating flashes, can be estimatied without, by using a convenional PAM fuorometer. Then, a custum-made fluorometric imager will be tested to upscale the method by measuring several plant simultaneously.

Used skills

• Photosynthesis,
• Chlorophyll Fluorescence,
• Programming & Statistics (Python, R)

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