Transforming light into energy is inherently dangerous for photosynthetic organisms. The transfer of energy (in the form of electrons) from protein to protein is imperfect and, when electrons get loose, they form destructive reactive oxygen species that harm the surrounding chloroplasts. To contain the damage, these organelles are then sent for cellular recycling and scientists have recently identified one of the proteins – an E3 ubiquitin ligase – that orchestrates this protective mechanism.
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CSIRO [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons