text: Photoinhibition can also be induced with short flashes of light using either a pulsed laser or a xenon flash lamp. When very short flashes are used, the photoinhibitory efficiency of the flashes depends on the time difference between the flashes. This dependence has been interpreted to indicate that the flashes cause photoinhibition by inducing recombination reactions in PSII, with subsequent production of singlet oxygen. The interpretation has been criticized by noting that the photoinhibitory efficiency of xenon flashes depends on the energy of the flashes even if such strong flashes are used that they would saturate the formation of the substrate of the recombination reactions.