In nature, photosynthetic organisms are exposed to different light spectra and intensities depending on the time of day and atmospheric and environmental conditions. When photosynthetic cells absorb excess light, they induce non-photochemical quenching to avoid photo-damage and trigger expression of ‘photoprotective’ genes. In this work, we used the green alga $Chlamydomonas\ reinhardtii$ to assess the impact of light intensity, light quality, wavelength, photosynthetic electron transport and CO 2 on induction of the ‘photoprotective’ genes ( LHCSR1 , LHCSR3 and PSBS ) during dark-to-light transitions. Induction (mRNA accumulation) occurred at very low light intensity, was independently modulated by blue and UV-B radiation through specific photoreceptors, and only LHCSR3 was strongly controlled by CO$_2$ levels through a putative enhancer function of CIA5, a transcription factor that controls genes of the carbon concentrating mechanism. We propose a model that integrates inputs of independent signaling pathways and how they may help the cells anticipate diel conditions and survive in a dynamic light environment.