The role of high-light-induced chloroplast movement in the photoprotection of the facultative shade plant Tradescantia albiflora was investigated by comparison with pea (Pisum sativum L.) leaves, both grown in 50 [mu]mol photons m-2 s-1. Photoinactivation of photosystem II (PSII) in vivo was induced in 1.1% CO2 by varying either duration (0-2 h) of illumination (fixed at 1800 [mu]mol m-2 s-1) or irradiance (0-3000 [mu]mol m-2 s-1) at a fixed duration (1 h) after infiltration of leaves with water or lincomycin (an inhibitor of chloroplast-encoded protein synthesis). At all photon exposures, PSII of T. albiflora leaves showed a greater resistance to light stress than pea leaves, although both utilization of absorbed light by photosynthesis and psbA gene product synthesis were smaller than for pea leaves. This greater tolerance was not due to differences in PSII antenna size or the index of susceptibility of PSII to light stress, because these two parameters were comparable in both plants. However, the transmittance increase mediated by chloroplast movement was greater in T. albiflora than pea, resulting in a 10% decrease of absorbed light at high light. We suggest that the greater tolerance of PSII against light stress in T. albiflora may be partly ascribed to its light-induced chloroplast rearrangement.