Photoinhibition of photosynthesis was induced in intact leaves of Phaseolus vulgaris L. grown at a photon flux density (PFD; photon fluence rate) of 300 μmol·m(-2)·s(-1), by exposure to a PFD of 1400 μmol·m(-2)·s(-1). Subsequent recovery from photoinhibition was followed at temperatures ranging from 5 to 35°C and at a PFD of either 20 or 140 μmol·m(-2)·s(-1) or in complete darkness. Photoinhibition and recovery were monitored mainly by chlorophyll fluorescence emission at 77K but also by photosynthetic O2 evolution. The effects of the protein-synthesis inhibitors, cycloheximide and chloramphenicol, on photoinhibition and recovery were also determined. The results demonstrate that recovery was temperature-dependent with rates slow below 15°C and optimal at 30°C. Light was required for maximum recovery but the process was light-saturated at a PFD of 20 μmol·m(-2)·s(-1). Chloramphenicol, but not cycloheximide, inactivated the repair process, indicating that recovery involved the synthesis of one or more chloroplast-encoded proteins. With chloramphenicol, it was shown that photoinhibition and recovery occurred concomitantly. The temperature-dependency of the photoinhibition process was, therefore, in part determined by the effect of temperature on the recovery process. Consequently, photoinhibition is the net difference between the rate of damage and the rate of repair. The susceptibility of chilling-sensitive plant species to photoinhibition at low temperatures is proposed to result from the low rates of recovery in this temperature range.