A study has been made on the State 1-State 2 transitions exhibited by the unicellular green algae Chlore&apyrenoidosa. ChlorophyUl fluorescence induction curves from algae adapted to State 1 or State 2 have been analyzed and a comparison made with similar curves produced by decreasing the intensity of light going to the photosystem II reaction centers. In both cases, quenching of the maximum fluorescence yield (Fm) and the initial fluorescence yield (F.) were observed so that the Fvs/Fm ratio and the area above the induction curve (A,,.,) remained constant. The State 1-State 2 transition also produced changes in the 8,B component indicative of some alteration within photosystem II organization. The implications of these experiments on the in vivo mechanism for energy redistribution between the two photosystems are discussed in terms of changes in absorption cross-section rather than being due to spillover from photosystem II to photosystem L. These changes may reflect the phosphorylation of the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein complex and its subsequent migration away from the photosystem II core leading to its closer association with photosystem I.To maintain maximal rates of photosynthesis at limiting light intensities, plants have evolved a mechanism which enables them to optimize the balance of incoming light energy between PSI and PSII (21). The first clear demonstration of the regulatory mechanism was made by Bonaventura and Myers (7) using Chlorella pyrenoidosa. They showed that when this alga was exposed to light preferentially absorbed by PSII there was a slow readjustment in its distribution to PSI with the overall effect of increasing the quantum yield for 02 evolution and decreasing the yield of Chl fluorescence. This readjustment in energy distribution from PSII to PSI was termed a State 1 to State 2 transition. The reversal of the transition was accomplished by illuminating with excess PSI light or by subjecting the organisms to a prolonged dark treatment.The State 1-State 2 phenomenon is now well established as a physiological mechanism found in a wide range of systems including higher plant leaves (6,10,23 the details ofthe molecular mechanisms involved in this regulatory mechanism. There is a requirement for the presence of the LHCP3 for higher plants and green algae (10) although in red algae and cyanobacteria the State 1-State 2 transition occurs even though LHCP is not present. However, recently small changes in 77K fluorescence spectra indicative of State transitions have been seen in a Chl b-less mutant of Scenedesmus. For many years there were hints, based on studies with isolated thylakoids, that the control mechanism involved changes in cation levels within chloroplast (2). More recently it has been suggested that the reversible phosphorylation of the LHCP is the basis of the State 1-State 2 mechanism (1,5,16,25). Convincing work with isolated thylakoids has shown how the kinase responsible for LHCP phosphorylation is activated when the PQ pool is over reduced (15). Suc...