A Dynamic Model of Photoproduction, Photoregulation and Photoinhibition in Microalgae using Chlorophyll Fluorescence

Fluorescence is a powerful tool for observing and understanding photosynthetic processes in microalgae. This paper presents a dynamic model describing key photosynthetic processes, whose predictions can be related to the characteristic fluorescence fluxes arising from Pulsed Amplitude Modulation (PAM) protocols. The mechanistic model by Han is used as a building block for predicting photoproduction and photoinhibition, and an extension is proposed in order to encompass a particular type of photoregulation, namely qE quenching. Moreover, the lake model—a specific type of Photosystem II arrangement—is considered in formulating the quantum yield of fluorescence, which leads to simple expressions of the characteristic fluorescence fluxes in terms of the model variables. A first calibration and validation of the model is performed against experimental data, showing excellent agreement.