{
  "id": 11479370,
  "title": "A Natural qE- and qZ-Deficient Alga Retains Functional Plant-Like and Chlorophycean Violaxanthin De-Epoxidases",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/02/a-natural-qe-and-qz-deficient-alga-retains-functional-plant-like-and",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-02T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.26.754548v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the green alga Auxenochlorella protothecoides x symbiontica (UTEX 250-A), researchers discovered two functional enzymes, Violaxanthin De-Epoxidase (VDE) and Chlorophycean Violaxanthin De-Epoxidase (CVDE), that are responsible for zeaxanthin-dependent quenching (qZ). This process is slower than the more commonly studied fast energy-dependent quenching (qE). Interestingly, despite lacking the Light-Harvesting Complex Stress Related (LHCSR) protein, which is necessary for qE, the alga still exhibits slow, reversible NPQ. When the VDE and CVDE enzymes were introduced into a VDE-deficient plant, they restored zeaxanthin production and NPQ, confirming their catalytic function. This finding suggests that this alga possesses a unique form of photoprotection that is distinct from the typical xanthophyll cycle dynamics found in other green plants and algae.",
  "summary": "Photosynthetic organisms protect themselves from excess light through non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), a process that safely dissipates excess light energy as heat. Current understanding of NPQ is largely drawn from a few model systems, leaving it unclear how universal NPQ mechanisms are across the green lineage. We characterize the slow, sustained NPQ of the green alga, Auxenochlorella…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}