RESUMO
A decrease in photosynthetic efficiency may indicate the toxic effects of environmental pollutants on higher plants. Measurement of chlorophyll (Chl) a fluorescence to assess the performance of photosystem II (PSII) was used as an bioindicator of toxicity of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) anthracene (ANT) in soybean plants. The results revealed that ANT treatment caused a reduction in quantum yield of PSII, damage to the oxygen evolving complex, as well as a significant reduction in performance index of PSII. However, change in performance index was more prominent, and it seems that the performance index is a more sensitive parameter to environmental contaminants. Moreover, a change in heterogeneity of PSII was also observed. The number of active reaction centres decreased with increasing concentration of ANT, as secondary plastoquinone reducing centres were converted into non-reducing centres, and PSIIα centres were converted into PSIIß and PSIIγ centres. The influence of ANT on PSII heterogeneity could be an important reason for reductions in the PSII performance.