The Involvement of the S2P2 Intramembrane Protease in the Response of Arabidopsis thaliana Chloroplasts to High Light Stress

High light intensity constitutes a critical abiotic stress factor that profoundly affects the structural and functional integrity of the photosynthetic apparatus. Excessive irradiance triggers accelerated degradation of the PsbA polypeptide, increases susceptibility to photoinhibition, and promotes overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby inducing oxidative damage to proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. Among the chloroplast-localized site-2 proteases of <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i>, <i>S2P2</i> remains the least characterized. In this study, our analyses revealed a pronounced upregulation of the <i>S2P2</i> (AT1G05140) gene and a concomitant accumulation of the <i>S2P2</i> protein under high light conditions. Functional characterization using two independent <i>S2P2</i> insertional mutant lines lacking the protease demonstrated that loss of <i>S2P2</i> significantly exacerbates photoinhibition. Mutants exhibited reduced photosystem II (PSII) efficiency, accompanied by accelerated degradation of the PSII core proteins PsbA, PsbD, and PsbC, as well as elevated ROS generation. These findings provide the first direct evidence that <i>S2P2</i> plays a pivotal role in maintaining the stoichiometric balance of PSII core components and conferring resilience of the photosynthetic machinery to high light stress. This work expands the functional repertoire of chloroplast site-2 proteases and underscores <i>S2P2</i> as a potential target for improving stress tolerance in plants.