Abstract: | Time courses of state I-state II transitions were measured in the thermophilic blue-green alga (Cyanobacterium), Synechococcus lividus, that was grown at 55°C. The rate of the state I–II transition using light II illumination was the same as that in the dark, and the dark state was identified to be state II. Therefore, light regulation attained by state transitions is produced by the state II–I transition induced by system I light. The redox level of plastoquinone did not affect this dark state II. Arrhenius plots of the state transitions showed a break point around 43°C that corresponded to the phase transition temperature of this alga. Since both the state I–II and II–I transitions were very much temperature-independent, we could keep the alga in either state for a long time at a “low” temperature such as room temperature. Activities of both photosystems I and II in states I and II were also measured. After a state II–I transition, the system II activity increased about 16% and at the same time, svstem I activity decreased about 30%. |