REVIEW: Role of Ascorbic Acid in Photosynthesis

---

B. N. Ivanov

Institute of Basic Biological Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Institutskaya 2, 142290 Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia; fax: (4967) 330-532; E-mail: ivboni@rambler.ru

Received November 22, 2013; Revision received December 5, 2013

---

Experimental data concerning the role of ascorbic acid in both the maintenance of photosynthesis and in the protection of the photosynthetic apparatus against reactive oxygen species and photoinhibition are reviewed. The function of ascorbic acid as an electron donor in the “Krasnovsky reaction”, as well as its physiological role as a donor to components of the photosynthetic electron transport chain, which was first studied by A. A. Krasnovsky in the 1980s, is discussed. Data on the content and transport of ascorbic acid in plant cells and chloroplasts are presented.

---

KEY WORDS: plants, photosynthesis, ascorbic acid, Krasnovsky reaction, chloroplasts, thylakoids, photosynthetic electron transport chain, cyclic electron transport, reactive oxygen species

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297914030146

---