Exploring the electron transfer pathways in photosystem I by high-time-resolution electron paramagnetic resonance: observation of the B-side radical pair P700(+)A1B(-) in whole cells of the deuterated green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii at cryogenic temperatures.

Crystallographic models of photosystem I (PS I) highlight a symmetrical arrangement of the electron transfer cofactors which are organized in two parallel branches (A, B) relative to a pseudo-C2 symmetry axis that is perpendicular to the membrane plane. Here, we explore the electron transfer pathways of PS I in whole cells of the deuterated green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii using high-time-resolution electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) at cryogenic temperatures. Particular emphasis is given to quantum oscillations detectable in the tertiary radical pairs P700(+)A1A(-) and P700(+)A1B(-) of the electron transfer chain. Results are presented first for the deuterated site-directed mutant PsaA-M684H in which electron transfer beyond the primary electron acceptor A0A on the PsaA branch of electron transfer is impaired. Analysis of the quantum oscillations, observed in a two-dimensional Q-band (34 GHz) EPR experiment, provides the geometry of the B-side radical pair. The orientation of the g tensor of P700(+) in an external reference system is adapted from a time-resolved multifrequency EPR study of deuterated and 15N-substituted cyanobacteria (Link, G.; Berthold, T.; Bechtold, M.; Weidner, J.-U.; Ohmes, E.; Tang, J.; Poluektov, O.; Utschig, L.; Schlesselman, S. L.; Thurnauer, M. C.; Kothe, G. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 4211-4222). Thus, we obtain the three-dimensional structure of the B-side radical pair following photoexcitation of PS I in its native membrane. The new structure describes the position and orientation of the reduced B-side quinone A1B(-) on a nanosecond time scale after light-induced charge separation. Furthermore, we present results for deuterated wild-type cells of C. reinhardtii demonstrating that both radical pairs P700(+)A1A(-) and P700(+)A1B(-) participate in the electron transfer process according to a mole ratio of 0.71/0.29 in favor of P700(+)A1A(-). A detailed comparison reveals different orientations of A1A(-) and A1B(-) in their respective binding sites such that formation of a strong hydrogen bond from A1(-) to the protein backbone is possible only in the case of A1A(-). We suggest that this is relevant to the rates of forward electron transfer from A1A(-) or A1B(-) to the iron-sulfur center F(X), which differ by a factor of 10. Thus, the present study sheds new light on the orientation of the phylloquinone acceptors in their binding pockets in PS I and the effect this has on function.

Hemin and magnesium-protoporphyrin IX induce global changes in gene expression in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Retrograde signaling is a pathway of communication from mitochondria and plastids to the nucleus in the context of cell differentiation, development, and stress response. In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the tetrapyrroles magnesium-protoporphyrin IX and heme are only synthesized within the chloroplast, and they have been implicated in the retrograde control of nuclear gene expression in this unicellular green alga. Feeding the two tetrapyrroles to Chlamydomonas cultures was previously shown to transiently induce five nuclear genes, three of which encode the heat shock proteins HSP70A, HSP70B, and HSP70E. In contrast, controversial results exist on the possible role of magnesium-protoporphyrin IX in the repression of genes for light-harvesting proteins in higher plants, raising the question of how important this mode of regulation is. Here, we used genome-wide transcriptional profiling to measure the global impact of these tetrapyrroles on gene regulation and the scope of the response. We identified almost 1,000 genes whose expression level changed transiently but significantly. Among them were only a few genes for photosynthetic proteins but several encoding enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, heme-binding proteins, stress-response proteins, as well as proteins involved in protein folding and degradation. More than 50% of the latter class of genes was also regulated by heat shock. The observed drastic fold changes at the RNA level did not correlate with similar changes in protein concentrations under the tested experimental conditions. Phylogenetic profiling revealed that genes of putative endosymbiontic origin are not overrepresented among the responding genes. This and the transient nature of changes in gene expression suggest a signaling role of both tetrapyrroles as secondary messengers for adaptive responses affecting the entire cell and not only organellar proteins.

Chlorophyll-deficient mutants of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii that accumulate magnesium protoporphyrin IX.

Two Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mutants defective in CHLM encoding Mg-protoporphyrin IX methyltransferase (MgPMT) were identified. The mutants, one with a missense mutation (chlM-1) and a second mutant with a splicing defect (chlM-2), do not accumulate chlorophyll, are yellow in the dark and dim light, and their growth is inhibited at higher light intensities. They accumulate Mg-protoporphyrin IX (MgProto), the substrate of MgPMT and this may be the cause for their light sensitivity. In the dark, both mutants showed a drastic reduction in the amounts of core proteins of photosystems I and II and light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-binding proteins. However, LHC mRNAs accumulated above wild-type levels. The accumulation of the transcripts of the LHC and other genes that were expressed at higher levels in the mutants during dark incubation was attenuated in the initial phase of light exposure. No regulatory effects of the constitutively 7- to 18-fold increased MgProto levels on gene expression were detected, supporting previous results in which MgProto and heme in Chlamydomonas were assigned roles as second messengers only in the transient activation of genes by light.

Photosynthetic electron flow affects H2O2 signaling by inactivation of catalase in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

A specific signaling role for H(2)O(2) in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was demonstrated by the definition of a promoter that specifically responded to this ROS. Expression of a nuclear-encoded reporter gene driven by this promoter was shown to depend not only on the level of exogenously added H(2)O(2) but also on light. In the dark, the induction of the reporter gene by H(2)O(2) was much lower than in the light. This lower induction was correlated with an accelerated disappearance of H(2)O(2) from the culture medium in the dark. Due to a light-induced reduction in catalase activity, H(2)O(2) levels in the light remained higher. Photosynthetic electron transport mediated the light-controlled down-regulation of the catalase activity since it was prevented by 3-(3'4'-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU), an inhibitor of photosystem II. In the presence of light and DCMU, expression of the reporter gene was low while the addition of aminotriazole, a catalase inhibitor, led to a higher induction of the reporter gene by H(2)O(2) in the dark. The role of photosynthetic electron transport and thioredoxin in this regulation was investigated by using mutants deficient in photosynthetic electron flow and by studying the correlation between NADP-malate dehydrogenase and catalase activities. It is proposed that, contrary to expectations, a controlled down-regulation of catalase activity occurs upon a shift of cells from dark to light. This down-regulation apparently is necessary to maintain a certain level of H(2)O(2) required to activate H(2)O(2)-dependent signaling pathways.

Heme, a plastid-derived regulator of nuclear gene expression in Chlamydomonas.

To gain insight into the chloroplast-to-nucleus signaling role of tetrapyrroles, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mutants in the Mg-chelatase that catalyzes the insertion of magnesium into protoporphyrin IX were isolated and characterized. The four mutants lack chlorophyll and show reduced levels of Mg-tetrapyrroles but increased levels of soluble heme. In the mutants, light induction of HSP70A was preserved, although Mg-protoporphyrin IX has been implicated in this induction. In wild-type cells, a shift from dark to light resulted in a transient reduction in heme levels, while the levels of Mg-protoporphyrin IX, its methyl ester, and protoporphyrin IX increased. Hemin feeding to cultures in the dark activated HSP70A. This induction was mediated by the same plastid response element (PRE) in the HSP70A promoter that has been shown to mediate induction by Mg-protoporphyrin IX and light. Other nuclear genes that harbor a PRE in their promoters also were inducible by hemin feeding. Extended incubation with hemin abrogated the competence to induce HSP70A by light or Mg-protoporphyrin IX, indicating that these signals converge on the same pathway. We propose that Mg-protoporphyrin IX and heme may serve as plastid signals that regulate the expression of nuclear genes.

A reporter system for the individual detection of hydrogen peroxide and singlet oxygen: its use for the assay of reactive oxygen species produced in vivo.

A reporter system for the assay of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was developed in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a plant model organism well suited for the application of inhibitors and generators of various types of ROS. This system employs various HSP70A promoter segments fused to a Renilla reniformis luciferase gene as a reporter. Transformants with the complete HSP70A promoter were inducible by both hydrogen peroxide and singlet oxygen. Constructs that lacked upstream heat-shock elements (HSEs) were inducible by hydrogen peroxide, indicating that this induction does not require such HSEs. Rather, downstream elements located between positions -81 to -149 with respect to the translation start site appear to be involved. In contrast, upstream sequences are essential for the response to singlet oxygen. Thus, activation by singlet oxygen appears to require promoter elements that are different from those used by hydrogen peroxide. ROS generated endogenously by treatment of the alga with metronidazole, protoporphyrin IX, dinoterb or high light intensities were detected by this reporter system, and distinguished as production of hydrogen peroxide (metronidazole) and singlet oxygen (protoporphyrin IX, dinoterb, high light). This system thus makes it possible to test whether, under varying environmental conditions including the application of abiotic stress, hydrogen peroxide or singlet oxygen or both are produced.

Phototropin involvement in the expression of genes encoding chlorophyll and carotenoid biosynthesis enzymes and LHC apoproteins in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Phototropin (PHOT) is a photoreceptor involved in a variety of blue-light-elicited physiological processes including phototropism, chloroplast movement and stomatal opening in plants. The work presented here tests whether PHOT is involved in expression of light-regulated genes in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. When C. reinhardtii was transferred from the dark to very low-fluence rate white light, there was a substantial increase in the level of transcripts encoding glutamate-1-semialdehyde aminotransferase (GSAT), phytoene desaturase (PDS) and light-harvesting polypeptides (e.g. LHCBM6). Increased levels of these transcripts were also elicited by low-intensity blue light, and this blue-light stimulation was suppressed in three different RNAi strains that synthesize low levels of PHOT. The levels of GSAT and LHCBM6 transcripts also increased following exposure of algal cells to low-intensity red light (RL). The red-light-dependent increase in transcript abundance was not affected by the electron transport inhibitor 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea, implying that the influence of RL on transcript accumulation was not controlled by cytoplasmic redox conditions, and that a red-light photoreceptor(s) may be involved in regulating the levels of transcripts from specific photosynthesis-related genes in C. reinhardtii. Interestingly, elevated GSAT and LHCBM6 transcript levels in RL were significantly reduced in the PHOT RNAi strains, which raises the possibility of co-action between blue and RL signaling pathways. Microarray experiments indicated that the levels of several transcripts for photosystem (PS) I and II polypeptides were also modulated by PHOT. These data suggest that, in C. reinhardtii, (i) PHOT is involved in blue-light-mediated changes in transcript accumulation, (ii) synchronization of the synthesis of chlorophylls (Chl), carotenoids, Chl-binding proteins and other components of the photosynthetic apparatus is achieved, at least in part, through PHOT-mediated signaling, and (iii) a red-light photoreceptor can also influence levels of certain transcripts associated with photosynthetic function, although its action requires normal levels of PHOT.

Identification of a plastid response element that acts as an enhancer within the Chlamydomonas HSP70A promoter.

Chloroplast-derived signals control a subset of nuclear genes in higher plants and eukaryotic algae. Among the types of signals identified are intermediates of chlorophyll biosynthesis such as Mg-protoporphyrin IX (MgProto). In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, it was suggested that this tetrapyrrole mediates the light induction of chaperone gene HSP70A. Here we have analyzed cis elements involved in the regulation of HSP70A by MgProto and light. We identified two promoters and between their transcription start sites two regulatory regions that each may confer inducibility by MgProto and light to both HSP70A promoters. These regulatory regions, when cloned in front of basal non-light inducible heterologous promoters, conferred inducibility by MgProto and light. The orientation and distance independent function of these cis-regulatory sequences qualifies them as enhancers that mediate the response of nuclear genes to a chloroplast signal. Mutational analysis of one of these regulatory regions and an alignment with promoters of other MgProto-inducible genes revealed the sequence motif (G/C)CGA(C/T)N(A/G)N15 (T/C/A)(A/T/G) which, as shown for HSP70A, may confer MgProto responsiveness. This cis-acting sequence element is employed for induction of HSP70A by both MgProto and light, lending support to the model that light induction of this gene is mediated via MgProto.

Defects in the cytochrome b6/f complex prevent light-induced expression of nuclear genes involved in chlorophyll biosynthesis.

Mutants with defects in the cytochrome (cyt) b6/f complex were analyzed for their effect on the expression of a subgroup of nuclear genes encoding plastid-localized enzymes participating in chlorophyll biosynthesis. Their defects ranged from complete loss of the cytb6/f complex to point mutations affecting specifically the quinone-binding QO site. In these seven mutants, light induction of the tetrapyrrole biosynthetic genes was either abolished or strongly reduced. In contrast, a normal induction of chlorophyll biosynthesis genes was observed in mutants with defects in photosystem II, photosystem I, or plastocyanin, or in wild-type cells treated with 3-(3'4'-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea or 2,5-dibromo-3-methyl-6-isopropyl benzoquinone. We conclude that the redox state of the plastoquinone pool does not control light induction of these chlorophyll biosynthetic genes. The signal that affects expression of the nuclear genes appears to solely depend on the integrity of the cytb6/f complex QO site. Since light induction of these genes in Chlamydomonas has recently been shown to involve the blue light receptor phototropin, the results suggest that cytb6/f activity regulates a plastid-derived factor required for their expression. This signaling pathway differs from that which regulates state transitions, since mutant stt7, lacking a protein kinase involved in phosphorylation of the light-harvesting complex II, was not altered in the expression of the chlorophyll biosynthetic genes.

Mg-protoporphyrin IX and heme control HEMA, the gene encoding the first specific step of tetrapyrrole biosynthesis, in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

HEMA encodes glutamyl-tRNA reductase (GluTR), which catalyzes the first step specific for tetrapyrrole biosynthesis in plants, archaea, and most eubacteria. In higher plants, GluTR is feedback inhibited by heme and intermediates of chlorophyll biosynthesis. It plays a key role in controlling flux through the tetrapyrrole biosynthetic pathway. This enzyme, which in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is encoded by a single gene (HEMA), exhibits homology to GluTRs of higher plants and cyanobacteria. HEMA mRNA accumulation was inducible not only by light but also by treatment of dark-adapted cells with Mg-protoporphyrin IX (MgProto) or hemin. The specificity of these tetrapyrroles as inducers was demonstrated by the absence of induction observed upon the feeding of protoporphyrin IX, the precursor of both heme and MgProto, or chlorophyllide. The HEMA mRNA accumulation following treatment of cells with light and hemin was accompanied by increased amounts of GluTR. However, the feeding of MgProto did not suggest a role for Mg-tetrapyrroles in posttranscriptional regulation. The induction by light but not that by the tetrapyrroles was prevented by inhibition of cytoplasmic protein synthesis. Since MgProto is synthesized exclusively in plastids and heme is synthesized in plastids and mitochondria, the data suggest a role of these compounds as organellar signals that control expression of the nuclear HEMA gene.

Signaling pathways from the chloroplast to the nucleus.

Genetic and physiological studies have to-date revealed evidence for five signaling pathways by which the chloroplast exerts retrograde control over nuclear genes. One of these pathways is dependent on product(s) of plastid protein synthesis, for another the signal is singlet oxygen, a third employs chloroplast-generated hydrogen peroxide, a fourth is controlled by the redox state of the photosynthetic electron transport chain, and a fifth involves intermediates and possibly proteins of tetrapyrrole biosynthesis. These five pathways may be part of a complex signaling network that links the functional and physiological state of the chloroplast to the nucleus. Mutants defective in various steps of photosynthesis reveal a surprising diversity in nuclear responses suggesting the existence of a complex signaling network.

Mating-induced shedding of cell walls, removal of walls from vegetative cells, and osmotic stress induce presumed cell wall genes in Chlamydomonas.

The first step in sexual differentiation of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is the formation of gametes. Three genes, GAS28, GAS30, and GAS31, encoding Hyp-rich glycoproteins that presumably are cell wall constituents, are expressed in the late phase of gametogenesis. These genes, in addition, are activated by zygote formation and cell wall removal and by the application of osmotic stress. The induction by zygote formation could be traced to cell wall shedding prior to gamete fusion since it was seen in mutants defective in cell fusion. However, it was absent in mutants defective in the initial steps of mating, i.e. in flagellar agglutination and in accumulation of adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate in response to this agglutination. Induction of the three GAS genes was also observed when cultures were exposed to hypoosmotic or hyperosmotic stress. To address the question whether the induction seen upon cell wall removal from both gametes and vegetative cells was elicited by osmotic stress, cell wall removal was performed under isosmotic conditions. Also under such conditions an activation of the genes was observed, suggesting that the signaling pathway(s) is (are) activated by wall removal itself.

Localization of the blue-light receptor phototropin to the flagella of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Blue light controls the sexual life cycle of Chlamydomonas, mediated by phototropin, a UV-A/blue-light receptor that plays a prominent role in multiple photoresponses. By using fractionation experiments and immunolocalization studies, this blue-light receptor, in addition to its known localization to the cell bodies, also was detected in flagella. Within the flagella, it was completely associated with the axonemes, in striking contrast to the situation in higher plants and the Chlamydomonas cell body where phototropin was observed in the plasma membrane. Its localization was not perturbed in mutants lacking several prominent structural components of the axoneme. This led to the conclusion that phototropin may be associated with the outer doublet microtubules. Analysis of a mutant (fla10) in which intraflagellar transport is compromised suggested that phototropin is a cargo for intraflagellar transport. The blue-light receptor thus seems to be an integral constituent of the flagella of this green alga, extending the list of organisms that harbor sensory molecules within this organelle to unicellular algae.

Phototropin plays a crucial role in controlling changes in chemotaxis during the initial phase of the sexual life cycle in Chlamydomonas.

During sexual differentiation, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii changes its chemotactic behavior in response to ammonium. Just like gamete formation, the change in chemotaxis mode is controlled by the sequential action of two environmental cues, removal of ammonium or nitrate from the medium and light. Thus, vegetative cells and mating incompetent pre-gametes, the latter being generated by nitrogen starvation in the dark, exhibit chemotaxis towards ammonium. Irradiation of pre-gametes results in a loss of chemotaxis and the gaining of mating competence. Incubation of these gametes in the dark resulted in their regaining chemotactic activity; re-illumination again resulted in its loss. Blue light was shown to be most effective in switching-off chemotaxis. RNA-interference strains with reduced levels of the blue-light receptor phototropin showed an attenuated inactivation of chemotaxis that could be partially compensated by the application of higher fluence rates, suggesting that these light responses are mediated by phototropin. The sharing of photoreceptor and signal transduction components as well as similar temporal patterns observed for changes in chemotaxis towards ammonium and gametic differentiation suggest an integration of the signaling pathways that control these two responses.

Involvement of tetrapyrroles in inter-organellar signaling in plants and algae.

For the assembly of a functional chloroplast, the coordinated expression of genes distributed between nucleus and chloroplasts is a prerequisite. While the nucleus plays an undisputed dominant role in controling biogenesis and functioning of chloroplasts, plastidic signals appear to control the expression of a subset of nuclear genes; the majority of which encodes chloroplast constituents. Tetrapyrrole biosynthesis intermediates are attractive candidates for one type of plastidic signal ever since an involvement of Mg-porphyrins in signaling from chloroplast to nucleus was first demonstrated in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Since then, Mg-protoporphyrin IX has been shown to exert a regulatory function on nuclear genes in higher plants as well. Here we review evidence for the role played by tetrapyrroles in inter-organellar communication. We also report on a screening for nuclear genes that may be subject to regulation by tetrapyrroles. This revealed that (i) >HEMA, the gene encoding the first enzyme specific for porphyrin biosynthesis is induced by Mg-protoporphyrin IX, (ii) several nuclear HSP70 genes are regulated by tetrapyrroles. Members of the gene family induced by the feeding of Mg-rotoporphyrin IX encode chaperones located in either the chloroplast or the cytosol. These results point to an important role of Mg-tetrapyrroles as plastidic signal in controling the initial step of porphyrin biosynthesis, and the synthesis of chaperones involved in protein folding in cytosol/stroma, protein transport into organelles, and the stress response.

Phototropin is the blue-light receptor that controls multiple steps in the sexual life cycle of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Blue light as an environmental cue plays a pivotal role in controlling the progression of the sexual life cycle in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Phototropin was considered a prime candidate for the blue-light receptor involved. By using the RNA interference method, knockdown strains with reduced phototropin levels were isolated. Those with severely reduced levels of this photoreceptor were partially impaired in three steps of the life cycle: in gametogenesis, the maintenance of mating ability, and the germination of zygotes. These observations suggest that phototropin is the principal sensory molecule used by this alga for the control of its life cycle by light.

Knock-out of a putative transporter results in altered blue-light signalling in Chlamydomonas.

Nitrogen starvation and blue light are the two environmental cues that control sexual differentiation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Insertional mutagenesis was applied to generate mutants that still require nitrogen starvation as the initiating signal for gametogenesis but were no longer dependent on irradiation. In one mutant analysed, sequences adjacent to the site of insertion were cloned and used for the isolation of a genomic clone that, upon transformation, could complement the mutant phenotype. The gene identified (LRG6) encodes two mRNAs that appear to be the products of differential splicing. The two putative gene products derived from these mRNAs differ in their C-terminal ends. Both predicted gene products exhibit multiple hydrophobic domains with alpha-helical secondary structure typical for integral membrane proteins. These proteins may form pores, and may function as transporters of as-yet unknown substrates. Since rendering the LRG6 gene non-functional resulted in light-independence of gamete formation, it is suggested that this transporter may inhibit signal flux from the photoreceptor to target genes - either directly by its activity or indirectly by serving as a scaffold for signalling proteins. Shutting off this transporter may be required for the activation of signal flux in this pathway. This concept is supported by the observed reduction in LRG6 mRNA levels during the first phase of gametic differentiation.

Sequence elements within an HSP70 promoter counteract transcriptional transgene silencing in Chlamydomonas.

We have shown previously that the HSP70A (A) promoter, when fused upstream of other promoters, significantly improves their performance in driving transgene expression in Chlamydomonas. Here, we employed the bacterial resistance gene ble, driven by the RBCS2 (R) promoter or an AR promoter fusion, to determine, by which mechanism(s) the A promoter may exert its enhancing effect. We observed that transformation rates of AR-ble constructs were significantly higher than those of R-ble constructs. However, ble mRNA levels in pools of transformants generated with either construct type were the same. Co-transformation experiments revealed that the R-ble transgene was silenced in 80% of the transformants, whereas this fraction was reduced to 36% in transformants harbouring the AR-ble transgene. We conclude that the A promoter acts by decreasing the probability that a transgene becomes transcriptionally silenced. We mapped two elements within the A promoter that are responsible for this effect. The core of the first element appears to be located between nucleotides - 7 and + 67 relative to the HSP70A transcriptional start site. Its activity is strongly dependent on its spatial setting with respect to the R promoter and is increased by upstream sequences (- 196 to - 8). The second element is independent of the first and is located to the region from - 754 to - 197. Its activity is spacing-independent and additive to the first element.

Isolation and characterization of a Chlamydomonas gene that encodes a putative blue-light photoreceptor of the phototropin family.

In the search for a Chlamydomonas reinhardtii photoreceptor that may mediate blue-light-induced responses we identified a gene that encodes a protein with a structure typical for that of members of the phototropin family, i.e. two LOV domains that may function in flavin mononucleotide binding and a ser/thr kinase domain. The amino acid sequences of these domains are closely related to those of higher plant phototropins. This single-copy gene (Phot) encodes a protein with a calculated molecular mass of 81.4 kDa which is distinctly smaller than the homologous proteins of higher plants that exhibit molecular masses around 120 kDa. Expression analyses revealed rather constant levels of Phot mRNA and Phot protein in vegetative cells incubated in the dark and in cells undergoing gametogenesis. Only vegetative cells in the light showed a reduced expression of the Phot gene. Cell fractionation studies revealed that the protein is membrane-associated. In higher plants, phototropins were shown to be bound to the plasma membrane. However, the expression of a Phot-GFP gene fusion in tobacco protoplasts revealed an association of the fusion protein with the endogenous membrane network of the cell.