Photosynthetica 2022, 60(2):323-325 | DOI: 10.32615/ps.2022.021

Tribute to Jean Lavorel (1928-2021), an outstanding experimenter and a brilliant theorist of photosynthesis

G. GOVINDJEE1, Y. DE KOUCHKOVSKY2, G. GARAB3, 4
1 Department of Plant Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Center of Biophysics & Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
2 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), 7 rue A. Pécard, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
3 Institute of Plant Biology, Biological Research Centre, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, 6726 Szeged, Hungary
4 Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, 710 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic

Tribute to Jean Lavorel (16 March 1928–12 January 2021), a pioneer of the ‘Light Reactions of Photosynthesis’. He was known not only for his ingenuity in devising new instruments but in thoroughly analyzing all the available data theoretically and mathematically – mostly all by himself. He measured, elegantly, oxygen evolution and light given off by photosynthetic organisms, both prompt and delayed chlorophyll fluorescence. He ingeniously used these data to understand how light energy is converted to chemical energy in natural systems. We present below a summary of his life and research.

Additional key words: Jean Lavorel

Received: April 4, 2022; Accepted: April 5, 2022; Prepublished online: April 8, 2022; Published: May 2, 2022  Show citation

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GOVINDJEE, G., DE KOUCHKOVSKY, Y., & GARAB, G. (2022). Tribute to Jean Lavorel (1928-2021), an outstanding experimenter and a brilliant theorist of photosynthesis. Photosynthetica, 60(2), 323-325. doi: 10.32615/ps.2022.021
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    References

    1. de Klerk H., Govindjee G., Kamen M.D., Lavorel J.: Age and fluorescence characteristics in some species of Athiorhodaceae. ‒ P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 62: 972-978, 1969. Go to original source...
    2. de Kouchkovsky Y.: Jean Lavorel (1928-2021): A great scientist, a model of integrity. ‒ Photosynth. Res. 151: 205-211, 2022. Go to original source...
    3. Etienne A.-L., Lavorel J.: Triggered luminescence in dark adapted Chlorella cells and chloroplasts. ‒ FEBS Lett. 57: 276-279, 1975. Go to original source...
    4. Garnier J., de Kouchkovsky Y., Lavorel J.: Sélection de mutants d'algues vertes unicellulaires pour l'étude de la photosynthèse. [Selection of unicellular green alga mutants for the study of photosynthesis.] ‒ C. R. Soc. Biol. (Paris) 162: 365-368, 1968. [In French]
    5. Govindjee G.: Sixty-three years since Kautsky: chlorophyll a fluorescence. ‒ Aust. J. Plant Physiol. 22: 131-160, 1995. Go to original source...
    6. Govindjee G., Blankenship R.E.: Martin David Kamen (1913-2002): Discover of carbon-14, and of new cytochromes in photosynthetic bacteria. - Photosynth. Res. 149: 265-273, 2021. Go to original source...
    7. Govindjee G., Döring G., Govindjee R.: The active chloro- phyll aII in suspensions of lyophilized and Tris-washed chloroplasts. ‒ BBA-Bioenergetics 205: 303-306, 1970a. Go to original source...
    8. Govindjee R., Govindjee G., Lavorel J., Briantais J.-M.: Fluorescence characteristics of lyophilized maize chloroplasts suspended in buffer. ‒ BBA-Bioenergetics 205: 361-370, 1970b. Go to original source...
    9. Haveman J., Lavorel J.: Identification of the 120 µs phase in the decay of delayed fluorescence in spinach chloroplasts and subchloroplast particles as the intrinsic back reaction. The dependence of the level of this phase on the thylakoids internal pH. ‒ BBA-Bioenergetics 408: 269-283, 1975. Go to original source...
    10. Lavorel J.: Photoinhibition de la catalase des chloroplastes. [Photoinhibition of the catalase of chloroplasts.] ‒ Biochim. Biophys. Acta 22: 226-237, 1956. [In French] Go to original source...
    11. Lavorel J.: Influence of concentration on the absorption spectrum and the action spectrum of fluorescence of dye solutions. ‒J. Phys. Chem. 61: 1600-1605, 1957. Go to original source...
    12. Lavorel J.: Induction of fluorescence in quinone poisoned Chlorella cells. ‒ Plant Physiol. 34: 204-209, 1959. Go to original source...
    13. Lavorel J.: Hétérogénéité de la chlorophylle in vivo I. Spectres d'émission de fluorescence. [Heterogeneity of chlorophyll in vivo I. Fluorescence spectra.] ‒ Biochim. Biophys. Acta 60: 510-523, 1962. [In French] Go to original source...
    14. Lavorel J.: Héterogénéité de la chlorophylle in vivo II. Polarisation et spectres d'action de fluorescence. [Heterogeneity of chlorophyll in vivo II. Polarisation and fluorescence action spectra.] ‒ Biochim. Biophys. Acta 88: 20-36, 1964. [In French] Go to original source...
    15. Lavorel J.: A study of chlorophyll fluorescence in vivo by a flow method. ‒ Photochem. Photobiol. 4: 819-828, 1965. Go to original source...
    16. Lavorel J.: Fast and slow phases of luminescence in Chlorella. ‒ Photochem. Photobiol. 21: 331-343, 1975. Go to original source...
    17. Lavorel J.: Matrix analysis of the oxygen evolving system of photosynthesis. ‒ J. Theor. Biol. 57: 171-185, 1976a. Go to original source...
    18. Lavorel J.: An alternative to Kok's model for the oxygen evolving system in photosynthesis. ‒ FEBS Lett. 66: 164-167, 1976b. Go to original source...
    19. Lavorel J.: A study of dark luminescence in Chlorella. Background luminescence, 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea triggered luminescence and hydrogen peroxide chemiluminescence. ‒ BBA-Bioenergetics 590: 385-399, 1980. Go to original source...
    20. Lavorel J.: A Monte Carlo method for the simulation of kinetic models. - Photosynth. Res. 9: 273-283, 1986. Go to original source...
    21. Lavorel J.: On the proper use of sigma analysis in the study of flash induced oxygen evolution. - Photosynth. Res. 27: 15-18, 1991. Go to original source...
    22. Lavorel J.: Determination of the photosynthetic oxygen release time by amperometry. ‒ BBA-Bioenergetics 1101: 33-40, 1992. Go to original source...
    23. Lavorel J., Dennery J.-M.: The slow component of Photosystem II luminescence. A process with distributed rate constant. ‒ BBA-Bioenergetics 680: 281-289, 1982. Go to original source...
    24. Lavorel J., Joliot P.: A connected model of the photosynthetic unit. ‒ Biophys. J. 12: 815-831, 1972. Go to original source...
    25. Lavorel J., Lemasson C.: Anomalies in the kinetics of photosynthetic oxygen emission in sequences of flashes revealed by matrix analysis. Effects of carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone and variation in time parameters. ‒ BBA-Bioenergetics 430: 501-516, 1976. Go to original source...
    26. Lavorel J., Richaud P., Verméglio A.: Interaction of photosynthesis and respiration in Rhodospirillaceae: evidence for two functionally distinct b-c1 complex fractions. ‒ BBA-Bioenergetics 973: 290-295, 1989. Go to original source...
    27. Maróti P., Lavorel J.: Intensity- and time-dependence of the carotenoid triplet quenching under rectangular illumination in Chlorella. - Photochem. Photobiol. 29: 1147-1151, 1979. Go to original source...
    28. Miyao M., Murata N., Lavorel J. et al.: Effect of the 33 kDa protein on the S-state transitions in photosynthetic oxygen evolution. ‒ BBA-Bioenergetics 890: 151-159, 1987. Go to original source...
    29. Seibert M., Lavorel J.: Oxygen evolution patterns from spinach photosystem II preparations. ‒ BBA-Bioenergetics 723: 160-168, 1983. Go to original source...

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