RESUMEN
The function of ascorbate peroxidase-related (APX-R) proteins, present in all green photosynthetic eukaryotes, remains unclear. This study focuses on APX-R from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, namely, ascorbate peroxidase 2 (APX2). We showed that apx2 mutants exhibited a faster oxidation of the photosystem I primary electron donor, P700, upon sudden light increase and a slower re-reduction rate compared to the wild type, pointing to a limitation of plastocyanin. Spectroscopic, proteomic and immunoblot analyses confirmed that the phenotype was a result of lower levels of plastocyanin in the apx2 mutants. The redox state of P700 did not differ between wild type and apx2 mutants when the loss of function in plastocyanin was nutritionally complemented by growing apx2 mutants under copper deficiency. In this case, cytochrome c6 functionally replaces plastocyanin, confirming that lower levels of plastocyanin were the primary defect caused by the absence of APX2. Overall, the results presented here shed light on an unexpected regulation of plastocyanin level under copper-replete conditions, induced by APX2 in Chlamydomonas.
Asunto(s)
Ascorbato Peroxidasas , Chlamydomonas reinhardtii , Mutación , Plastocianina , Plastocianina/metabolismo , Plastocianina/genética , Ascorbato Peroxidasas/metabolismo , Ascorbato Peroxidasas/genética , Chlamydomonas reinhardtii/metabolismo , Chlamydomonas reinhardtii/genética , Cobre/metabolismo , Oxidación-Reducción , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I/metabolismo , Proteínas de Plantas/metabolismo , Proteínas de Plantas/genética , Citocromos c6/metabolismo , Citocromos c6/genética , Proteómica/métodos , LuzRESUMEN
Plants have evolved multiple regulatory mechanisms to cope with natural light fluctuations. The interplay between these mechanisms leads presumably to the resilience of plants in diverse light patterns. We investigated the energy-dependent nonphotochemical quenching (qE) and cyclic electron transports (CET) in light that oscillated with a 60-s period with three different amplitudes. The photosystem I (PSI) and photosystem II (PSII) function-related quantum yields and redox changes of plastocyanin and ferredoxin were measured in Arabidopsis thaliana wild types and mutants with partial defects in qE or CET. The decrease in quantum yield of qE due to the lack of either PsbS- or violaxanthin de-epoxidase was compensated by an increase in the quantum yield of the constitutive nonphotochemical quenching. The mutant lacking NAD(P)H dehydrogenase (NDH)-like-dependent CET had a transient significant PSI acceptor side limitation during the light rising phase under high amplitude of light oscillations. The mutant lacking PGR5/PGRL1-CET restricted electron flows and failed to induce effective photosynthesis control, regardless of oscillation amplitudes. This suggests that PGR5/PGRL1-CET is important for the regulation of PSI function in various amplitudes of light oscillation, while NDH-like-CET acts' as a safety valve under fluctuating light with high amplitude. The results also bespeak interplays among multiple photosynthetic regulatory mechanisms.
Asunto(s)
Proteínas de Arabidopsis , Arabidopsis , Luz , Proteínas de la Membrana , Fotosíntesis , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema II , Fotosíntesis/fisiología , Fotosíntesis/efectos de la radiación , Arabidopsis/fisiología , Arabidopsis/genética , Arabidopsis/efectos de la radiación , Arabidopsis/metabolismo , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I/metabolismo , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema II/metabolismo , Transporte de Electrón , Proteínas de Arabidopsis/metabolismo , Proteínas de Arabidopsis/genética , Ferredoxinas/metabolismo , Mutación , Oxidación-Reducción , Plastocianina/metabolismo , Proteínas del Complejo del Centro de Reacción Fotosintética/metabolismo , Proteínas del Complejo del Centro de Reacción Fotosintética/genéticaRESUMEN
Plastocyanin functions as an electron carrier in the photosynthetic electron transport chain, located at the thylakoid membrane. In several species, endogenous plastocyanin levels are correlated with the photosynthetic electron transport rate. Overexpression of plastocyanin genes in Arabidopsis thaliana increases plant size, but this phenomenon has not been observed in crop species. Here, we investigated the effects of heterologous expression of a gene encoding a plastocyanin isoform from Arabidopsis, AtPETE2, in the oil seed crop Camelina sativa under standard growth conditions and under salt stress. AtPETE2 heterologous expression enhanced photosynthetic activity in Camelina, accelerating plant development and improving seed yield under standard growth conditions. Additionally, CsPETE2 from Camelina was induced by salt stress and AtPETE2 expression lines had larger primary roots and more lateral roots than the wild type. AtPETE2 expression lines also had larger seeds and higher total seed yield under long-term salt stress compared with non-transgenic Camelina. Our results demonstrate that increased plastocyanin levels in Camelina can enhance photosynthesis and productivity, as well as tolerance to osmotic and salt stresses. Heterologous expression of plastocyanin may be a useful strategy to mitigate crop stress in saline soils.
Asunto(s)
Arabidopsis , Brassicaceae , Plastocianina/genética , Plastocianina/metabolismo , Tolerancia a la Sal/genética , Brassicaceae/genética , Brassicaceae/metabolismo , Arabidopsis/metabolismo , Semillas/metabolismoRESUMEN
Charge exchange is the fundamental process that sustains cellular respiration and photosynthesis by shuttling electrons in a cascade of electron transfer (ET) steps between redox cofactors. While intraprotein charge exchange is well characterized in protein complexes bearing multiple redox sites, interprotein processes are less understood due to the lack of suitable experimental approaches and the dynamic nature of the interactions. Proteins constrained between electrodes are known to support electron transport (ETp) through the protein matrix even without redox cofactors, as the charges housed by the redox sites in ET are furnished by the electrodes. However, it is unknown whether protein ETp mechanisms apply to the interprotein medium present under physiological conditions. We study interprotein charge exchange between plant photosystem I (PSI) and its soluble redox partner plastocyanin (Pc) and address the role of the Pc copper center. Using electrochemical scanning tunneling spectroscopy (ECSTS) current-distance and blinking measurements, we quantify the spatial span of charge exchange between individual Pc/PSI pairs and ETp through transient Pc/PSI complexes. Pc devoid of the redox center (Pcapo) can exchange charge with PSI at longer distances than with the copper ion (Pcholo). Conductance bursts associated with Pcapo/PSI complex formation are higher than in Pcholo/PSI. Thus, copper ions are not required for long-distance Pc/PSI ETp but regulate its spatial span and conductance. Our results suggest that the redox center that carries the charge in Pc is not necessary to exchange it in interprotein ET through the aqueous solution and question the canonical view of tight complex binding between redox protein partners.
Asunto(s)
Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I , Plastocianina , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I/química , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I/metabolismo , Plastocianina/química , Plastocianina/metabolismo , Cobre , Transporte de Electrón , Oxidación-Reducción , Plantas/metabolismoRESUMEN
Plants use solar energy to power cellular metabolism. The oxidation of plastoquinol and reduction of plastocyanin by cytochrome b6f (Cyt b6f) is known as one of the key steps of photosynthesis, but the catalytic mechanism in the plastoquinone oxidation site (Qp) remains elusive. Here, we describe two high-resolution cryo-EM structures of the spinach Cyt b6f homodimer with endogenous plastoquinones and in complex with plastocyanin. Three plastoquinones are visible and line up one after another head to tail near Qp in both monomers, indicating the existence of a channel in each monomer. Therefore, quinones appear to flow through Cyt b6f in one direction, transiently exposing the redox-active ring of quinone during catalysis. Our work proposes an unprecedented one-way traffic model that explains efficient quinol oxidation during photosynthesis and respiration.
Asunto(s)
Citocromos b , Plastocianina , Citocromos b/metabolismo , Plastocianina/metabolismo , Microscopía por Crioelectrón , Complejo de Citocromo b6f/química , Complejo de Citocromo b6f/metabolismo , Oxidación-Reducción , Fotosíntesis , Plantas/metabolismo , Quinonas , Transporte de ElectrónRESUMEN
Photosystem I (PSI) enables photo-electron transfer and regulates photosynthesis in the bioenergetic membranes of cyanobacteria and chloroplasts. Being a multi-subunit complex, its macromolecular organization affects the dynamics of photosynthetic membranes. Here we reveal a chloroplast PSI from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii that is organized as a homodimer, comprising 40 protein subunits with 118 transmembrane helices that provide scaffold for 568 pigments. Cryogenic electron microscopy identified that the absence of PsaH and Lhca2 gives rise to a head-to-head relative orientation of the PSI-light-harvesting complex I monomers in a way that is essentially different from the oligomer formation in cyanobacteria. The light-harvesting protein Lhca9 is the key element for mediating this dimerization. The interface between the monomers is lacking PsaH and thus partially overlaps with the surface area that would bind one of the light-harvesting complex II complexes in state transitions. We also define the most accurate available PSI-light-harvesting complex I model at 2.3 Å resolution, including a flexibly bound electron donor plastocyanin, and assign correct identities and orientations to all the pigments, as well as 621 water molecules that affect energy transfer pathways.
Asunto(s)
Cianobacterias , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I/metabolismo , Plastocianina , Complejos de Proteína Captadores de Luz/metabolismo , Subunidades de Proteína/metabolismo , Cianobacterias/metabolismo , Agua/metabolismo , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema II/metabolismoRESUMEN
Cell surface receptors play essential roles in perceiving and processing external and internal signals at the cell surface of plants and animals. The receptor-like protein kinases (RLK) and receptor-like proteins (RLPs), two major classes of proteins with membrane receptor configuration, play a crucial role in plant development and disease defense. Although RLPs and RLKs share a similar single-pass transmembrane configuration, RLPs harbor short divergent C-terminal regions instead of the conserved kinase domain of RLKs. This RLP receptor structural design precludes sequence comparison algorithms from being used for high-throughput predictions of the RLP family in plant genomes, as has been extensively performed for RLK superfamily predictions. Here, we developed the RLPredictiOme, implemented with machine learning models in combination with Bayesian inference, capable of predicting RLP subfamilies in plant genomes. The ML models were simultaneously trained using six types of features, along with three stages to distinguish RLPs from non-RLPs (NRLPs), RLPs from RLKs, and classify new subfamilies of RLPs in plants. The ML models achieved high accuracy, precision, sensitivity, and specificity for predicting RLPs with relatively high probability ranging from 0.79 to 0.99. The prediction of the method was assessed with three datasets, two of which contained leucine-rich repeats (LRR)-RLPs from Arabidopsis and rice, and the last one consisted of the complete set of previously described Arabidopsis RLPs. In these validation tests, more than 90% of known RLPs were correctly predicted via RLPredictiOme. In addition to predicting previously characterized RLPs, RLPredictiOme uncovered new RLP subfamilies in the Arabidopsis genome. These include probable lipid transfer (PLT)-RLP, plastocyanin-like-RLP, ring finger-RLP, glycosyl-hydrolase-RLP, and glycerophosphoryldiester phosphodiesterase (GDPD, GDPDL)-RLP subfamilies, yet to be characterized. Compared to the only Arabidopsis GDPDL-RLK, molecular evolution studies confirmed that the ectodomain of GDPDL-RLPs might have undergone a purifying selection with a predominance of synonymous substitutions. Expression analyses revealed that predicted GDPGL-RLPs display a basal expression level and respond to developmental and biotic signals. The results of these biological assays indicate that these subfamily members have maintained functional domains during evolution and may play relevant roles in development and plant defense. Therefore, RLPredictiOme provides a framework for genome-wide surveys of the RLP superfamily as a foundation to rationalize functional studies of surface receptors and their relationships with different biological processes.
Asunto(s)
Arabidopsis , Proteínas de Plantas , Animales , Proteínas de Plantas/metabolismo , Arabidopsis/genética , Arabidopsis/metabolismo , Plastocianina/genética , Plastocianina/metabolismo , Teorema de Bayes , Leucina/metabolismo , Plantas/metabolismo , Proteínas Quinasas/genética , Proteínas Quinasas/metabolismo , Receptores de Superficie Celular/metabolismo , Aprendizaje Automático , Hidrolasas/metabolismo , Hidrolasas Diéster Fosfóricas/metabolismo , Lípidos , FilogeniaRESUMEN
This work is devoted to theoretical study of functioning of the cytochrome (Cyt) b6f complex (plastoquinol:plastocyanin oxidoreductase) of the electron transport chain (ETC) in oxygenic photosynthesis. A composition of the chloroplast ETC and molecular mechanisms of functioning of the Cyt b6f complex, which stands between photosystems II and I (PSII and PSI), are briefly reviewed. The Cyt b6f complex oxidizes plastoquinol (PQH2) molecules formed in PSII, and reduces plastocyanin, which serves as an electron donor to PSI. PQH2 oxidation is the rate-limiting step in the chain of electron transfer processes between PSII and PSI. Using the density functional theory (DFT) method, we have analyzed the two-electron (bifurcated) oxidation of PQH2 in the catalytic center Qo of the Cyt b6f complex. Results of DFT calculations are consistent with the fact that the first step of PQH2 oxidation, electron transfer to the Fe2S2 cluster of the iron-sulfur protein (ISP), is an endergonic (energy-accepting) process (ΔE ≈ 15 kJ·mol-1) that can limit turnover of the Cyt b6f complex. The second stage of bifurcated oxidation of PQH2 - electron transfer from semiquinone (PQHâ¢, formed after the first step of PQH2 oxidation) to heme b6L - is the exergonic (energy-donating) process (ΔE < 0). DFT modeling of this stage revealed that semiquinone oxidation should accelerate after the PQH⢠radical shift towards the heme b6L (an electron acceptor) and the carboxy group of Glu78 (a proton acceptor). The data obtained are discussed within the framework of the Mitchell Q-cycle model describing PQH2 oxidation at the Qo site of the Cyt b6f complex.
Asunto(s)
Proteínas Hierro-Azufre , Plastocianina , Transporte de Electrón , Plastocianina/metabolismo , Protones , Citocromos b/metabolismo , Complejo de Citocromo b6f/metabolismo , Cloroplastos/metabolismo , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I/metabolismo , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema II/metabolismo , Proteínas Hierro-Azufre/metabolismo , Oxidorreductasas/metabolismo , Hemo/metabolismoRESUMEN
Proteins tune the reactivity of metal sites; less understood is the impact of association with a redox partner. We demonstrate the utility of carbon-deuterium labels for selective analysis of delicate metal sites. Introduced into plastocyanin, they reveal substantial strengthening of the key Cu-Cys89 bond upon association with cytochrome f.
Asunto(s)
Cobre , Plastocianina , Carbono , Cobre/química , Citocromos f/metabolismo , Deuterio , Oxidación-Reducción , Plastocianina/química , Plastocianina/metabolismoRESUMEN
Photosynthesis is a fundamental process that converts photons into chemical energy, driven by large protein complexes at the thylakoid membranes of plants, cyanobacteria, and algae. In plants, water-soluble plastocyanin (Pc) is responsible for shuttling electrons between cytochrome b6f complex and the photosystem I (PSI) complex in the photosynthetic electron transport chain (PETC). For an efficient turnover, a transient complex must form between PSI and Pc in the PETC, which implies a balance between specificity and binding strength. Here, we studied the binding frequency and the unbinding force between suitably oriented plant PSI and Pc under redox control using single molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS). The binding frequency (observation of binding-unbinding events) between PSI and Pc depends on their respective redox states. The interaction between PSI and Pc is independent of the redox state of PSI when Pc is reduced, and it is disfavored in the dark (reduced P700) when Pc is oxidized. The frequency of interaction between PSI and Pc is higher when at least one of the partners is in a redox state ready for electron transfer (ET), and the post-ET situation (PSIRed-PcOx) leads to lower binding. In addition, we show that the binding of ET-ready PcRed to PSI can be regulated externally by Mg2+ ions in solution.
Asunto(s)
Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I , Plastocianina , Complejo de Citocromo b6f/química , Complejo de Citocromo b6f/metabolismo , Transporte de Electrón , Electrones , Luz , Oxidación-Reducción , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I/química , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I/metabolismo , Plastocianina/química , Plastocianina/metabolismo , Análisis Espectral , Agua/metabolismoRESUMEN
Photosynthetic Control is defined as the control imposed on photosynthetic electron transport by the lumen-pH-sensitive re-oxidation of plastoquinol (PQH2) by cytochrome b6f. Photosynthetic Control leads at higher actinic light intensities to an electron transport chain with a (relatively) reduced photosystem (PS) II and PQ pool and a (relatively) oxidized PS I. Making Light Curves of more than 33 plant species with the recently introduced DUAL-KLAS-NIR (Chl a fluorescence + the redox states of plastocyanin (PC), P700, and ferredoxin (Fd)) the light intensity-dependent induction of Photosynthetic Control was probed and characterized. It was observed that PC became completely oxidized at light intensities ≤ 400 µmol photons m-2 s-1 (at lower light intensities in shade than in sun leaves). The relationship between qP and P700(red) was used to determine the extent of Photosynthetic Control. Instead of measuring the whole Light Curve, it was shown that a single moderate light intensity can be used to characterize the status of a leaf relative to that of other leaves. It was further found that in some shade-acclimated leaves Fd becomes again more oxidized at high light intensities indicating that electron transfer from the PQ pool to P700 cannot keep up with the outflow of electrons on the acceptor side of PS I. It was observed as well that for NPQ-induction a lower light intensity (less acidified lumen) was needed than for the induction of Photosynthetic Control. The measurements were also used to make a comparison between the parameters qP and qL, a comparison suggesting that qP was the more relevant parameter.
Asunto(s)
Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I , Plastocianina , Citocromos b , Transporte de Electrón , Ferredoxinas/metabolismo , Luz , Oxidación-Reducción , Fotosíntesis , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I/metabolismo , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema II/metabolismo , Hojas de la Planta/metabolismo , Plastocianina/metabolismoRESUMEN
In the light reaction of oxygenic photosynthesis, plastocyanin (PC) and ferredoxins (Fd) are small/diffusible redox-active proteins playing key roles in electron transfer/transport phenomena. In the Z-scheme mechanistic purview, they are considered as specific affinity binding-based electron-relay agents, linking the functions of Cytochrome b6f (Cyt. b6f), Photosystem I (PS I) and Fd:NADPH oxidoreductase (FNR). The murburn explanation for photolytic photophosphorylation deems PC/Fd as generic 'redox capacitors', temporally accepting and releasing one-electron equivalents in reaction milieu. Herein, we explore the two theories with respect to structural, distributional and functional aspects of PC/Fd. Amino acid residues located on the surface loci of key patches of PC/Fd vary in electrostatic/contour (topography) signatures. Crystal structures of four different complexes each of Cyt.f-PC and Fd-FNR show little conservation in the contact-surfaces, thereby discrediting 'affinity binding-based electron transfers (ET)' as an evolutionary logic. Further, thermodynamic and kinetic data of wildtype and mutant proteins interactions do not align with Z-scheme. Furthermore, micromolar physiological concentrations of PC and the non-conducive architecture of chloroplasts render the classical model untenable. In the murburn model, as PC is optional, the observation that plants lacking PC survive and grow is justified. Further, the low physiological concentration/distribution of PC in chloroplast lumen/stroma is supported by murburn equilibriums, as higher concentrations would limit electron transfers. Thus, structural evidence, interactive dynamics with redox partners and physiological distribution/role of PC/Fd support the murburn perspective that these proteins serve as generic redox-capacitors in chloroplasts.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
Asunto(s)
Ferredoxinas , Plastocianina , Transporte de Electrón , Electrones , Ferredoxinas/química , Ferredoxinas/metabolismo , Oxidación-Reducción , Fotosíntesis , Plastocianina/química , Plastocianina/metabolismoRESUMEN
The Southern Ocean (SO) harbors some of the most intense phytoplankton blooms on Earth. Changes in temperature and iron availability are expected to alter the intensity of SO phytoplankton blooms, but little is known about how these changes will influence community composition and downstream biogeochemical processes. We performed light-saturated experimental manipulations on surface ocean microbial communities from McMurdo Sound in the Ross Sea to examine the effects of increased iron availability (+2 nM) and warming (+3 and +6 °C) on nutrient uptake, as well as the growth and transcriptional responses of two dominant diatoms, Fragilariopsis and Pseudo-nitzschia We found that community nutrient uptake and primary productivity were elevated under both warming conditions without iron addition (relative to ambient -0.5 °C). This effect was greater than additive under concurrent iron addition and warming. Pseudo-nitzschia became more abundant under warming without added iron (especially at 6 °C), while Fragilariopsis only became more abundant under warming in the iron-added treatments. We attribute the apparent advantage Pseudo-nitzschia shows under warming to up-regulation of iron-conserving photosynthetic processes, utilization of iron-economic nitrogen assimilation mechanisms, and increased iron uptake and storage. These data identify important molecular and physiological differences between dominant diatom groups and add to the growing body of evidence for Pseudo-nitzschia's increasingly important role in warming SO ecosystems. This study also suggests that temperature-driven shifts in SO phytoplankton assemblages may increase utilization of the vast pool of excess nutrients in iron-limited SO surface waters and thereby influence global nutrient distribution and carbon cycling.
Asunto(s)
Cambio Climático , Diatomeas/fisiología , Ecosistema , Océanos y Mares , Eutrofización , Regulación de la Expresión Génica , Complejos de Proteína Captadores de Luz/metabolismo , Nitrógeno/metabolismo , Fotosíntesis/fisiología , Fitoplancton , PlastocianinaRESUMEN
Photosystem I is defined as plastocyanin-ferredoxin oxidoreductase. Taking advantage of genetic engineering, kinetic analyses and cryo-EM, our data provide novel mechanistic insights into binding and electron transfer between PSI and Pc. Structural data at 2.74â Å resolution reveals strong hydrophobic interactions in the plant PSI-Pc ternary complex, leading to exclusion of water molecules from PsaA-PsaB/Pc interface once the PSI-Pc complex forms. Upon oxidation of Pc, a slight tilt of bound oxidized Pc allows water molecules to accommodate the space between Pc and PSI to drive Pc dissociation. Such a scenario is consistent with the six times larger dissociation constant of oxidized as compared with reduced Pc and mechanistically explains how this molecular machine optimized electron transfer for fast turnover.
Asunto(s)
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii/metabolismo , Interacciones Hidrofóbicas e Hidrofílicas , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I/química , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I/metabolismo , Plastocianina/química , Plastocianina/metabolismo , Sitios de Unión , Transporte de Electrón , Cinética , Modelos Moleculares , Oxidación-Reducción , Unión Proteica , Conformación ProteicaRESUMEN
Many cyanobacteria species can use both plastocyanin and cytochrome c6 as lumenal electron carriers to shuttle electrons from the cytochrome b6f to either photosystem I or the respiratory cytochrome c oxidase. In Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 placed in darkness, about 60% of the active PSI centres are bound to a reduced electron donor which is responsible for the fast re-reduction of P700in vivo after a single charge separation. Here, we show that both cytochrome c6 and plastocyanin can bind to PSI in the dark and participate to the fast phase of P700 reduction, but the fraction of pre-bound PSI is smaller in the case of cytochrome c6 than with plastocyanin. Because of the inter-connection of respiration and photosynthesis in cyanobacteria, the inhibition of the cytochrome c oxidase results in the over-reduction of the photosynthetic electron transfer chain in the dark that translates into a lag in the kinetics of P700 oxidation at the onset of light. We show that this is true both with plastocyanin and cytochrome c6, indicating that the partitioning of electron transport between respiration and photosynthesis is regulated in the same way independently of which of the two lumenal electron carriers is present, although the mechanisms of such regulation are yet to be understood.
Asunto(s)
Citocromos c6/química , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I/química , Plastocianina/química , Synechocystis/metabolismo , Clorofila/química , Cianobacterias/metabolismo , Transporte de Electrón , Complejo IV de Transporte de Electrones/química , Cinética , Oxidación-Reducción , Fotosíntesis , Tilacoides/químicaRESUMEN
After the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), iron availability was greatly decreased, and photosynthetic organisms evolved several alternative proteins and mechanisms. One of these proteins, plastocyanin, is a type I blue-copper protein that can replace cytochrome c6 as a soluble electron carrier between cytochrome b6f and photosystem I. In most cyanobacteria, expression of these two alternative proteins is regulated by copper availability, but the regulatory system remains unknown. Herein, we provide evidence that the regulatory system is composed of a BlaI/CopY-family transcription factor (PetR) and a BlaR-membrane protease (PetP). PetR represses petE (plastocyanin) expression and activates petJ (cytochrome c6), while PetP controls PetR levels in vivo. Using whole-cell extracts, we demonstrated that PetR degradation requires both PetP and copper. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that the PetRP system regulates only four genes (petE, petJ, slr0601, and slr0602), highlighting its specificity. Furthermore, the presence of petE and petRP in early branching cyanobacteria indicates that acquisition of these genes could represent an early adaptation to decreased iron bioavailability following the GOE.
Asunto(s)
Citocromos c/metabolismo , Péptido Hidrolasas/metabolismo , Plastocianina/metabolismo , Synechocystis/metabolismo , Proteínas Bacterianas/metabolismo , Secuencia de Bases , Cobre/farmacología , Epistasis Genética/efectos de los fármacos , Modelos Biológicos , Mutación/genética , Regiones Promotoras Genéticas/genética , Unión Proteica/efectos de los fármacos , Proteolisis/efectos de los fármacos , Regulón/genética , Synechocystis/efectos de los fármacosRESUMEN
We have investigated if the heterologous expression of a functional green alga plastocyanin in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum can improve photosynthetic activity and cell growth. Previous in vitro assays showed that a single-mutant of the plastocyanin from the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is effective in reducing P. tricornutum photosystem I. In this study, in vivo assays with P. tricornutum strains expressing this plastocyanin indicate that even the relatively low intracellular concentrations of holo-plastocyanin detected (≈4 µM) are enough to promote an increased growth (up to 60%) under iron-deficient conditions as compared with the WT strain, measured as higher cell densities, content in pigments and active photosystem I, global photosynthetic rates per cell, and even cell volume. In addition, the presence of plastocyanin as an additional photosynthetic electron carrier seems to decrease the over-reduction of the plastoquinone pool. Consequently, it promotes an improvement in the maximum quantum yield of both photosystem II and I, together with a decrease in the acceptor side photoinhibition of photosystem II-also associated to a reduced oxidative stress-a decrease in the peroxidation of membrane lipids in the choroplast, and a lower degree of limitation on the donor side of photosystem I. Thus the heterologous plastocyanin appears to act as a functional electron carrier, alternative to the native cytochrome c6 , under iron-limiting conditions.
Asunto(s)
Diatomeas , Plastocianina , Diatomeas/genética , Diatomeas/metabolismo , Transporte de Electrón , Hierro/metabolismo , Fotosíntesis , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I/metabolismo , Plastocianina/metabolismoRESUMEN
The ability of photosynthetic organisms to use sunlight as a sole source of energy is endowed by two large membrane complexes-photosystem I (PSI) and photosystem II (PSII). PSI and PSII are the fundamental components of oxygenic photosynthesis, providing oxygen, food and an energy source for most living organisms on Earth. Currently, high-resolution crystal structures of these complexes from various organisms are available. The crystal structures of megadalton complexes have revealed excitation transfer and electron-transport pathways within the various complexes. PSI is defined as plastocyanin-ferredoxin oxidoreductase but a high-resolution structure of the entire triple supercomplex is not available. Here, using a new cryo-electron microscopy technique, we solve the structure of native plant PSI in complex with its electron donor plastocyanin and the electron acceptor ferredoxin. We reveal all of the contact sites and the modes of interaction between the interacting electron carriers and PSI.
Asunto(s)
Ferredoxinas/ultraestructura , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I/ultraestructura , Pisum sativum/ultraestructura , Plastocianina/ultraestructura , Sitios de Unión , Microscopía por Crioelectrón , Electrones , Ferredoxinas/química , Modelos Moleculares , Complejo de Proteína del Fotosistema I/química , Plastocianina/química , Conformación ProteicaRESUMEN
Plastocyanin and cytochrome c6, abundant proteins in photosynthesis, are readouts for cellular copper status in Chlamydomonas and other algae. Their accumulation is controlled by a transcription factor copper response regulator (CRR1). The replacement of copper-containing plastocyanin with heme-containing cytochrome c6 spares copper and permits preferential copper (re)-allocation to cytochrome oxidase. Under copper-replete situations, the quota depends on abundance of various cuproproteins and is tightly regulated, except under zinc-deficiency where acidocalcisomes over-accumulate Cu(I). CRR1 has a transcriptional activation domain, a Zn-dependent DNA binding SBP-domain with a nuclear localization signal, and a C-terminal Cys-rich region that represses the zinc regulon. CRR1 activates >60 genes in Chlamydomonas through GTAC-containing CuREs; transcriptome differences are recapitulated in the proteome. The differentially-expressed genes encode assimilatory copper transporters of the CTR/SLC31 family including a novel soluble molecule, redox enzymes in the tetrapyrrole pathway that promote chlorophyll biosynthesis and photosystem 1 accumulation, and other oxygen-dependent enzymes, which may influence thylakoid membrane lipids, specifically polyunsaturated galactolipids and γ-tocopherol. CRR1 also down-regulates 2 proteins in Chlamydomonas: for plastocyanin, by activation of proteolysis, while for the diiron subunit of the cyclase in chlorophyll biosynthesis, through activation of an upstream promoter that generates a poorly-translated 5' extended transcript containing multiple short ORFs that inhibit translation. The functions of many CRR1-target genes are unknown, and the copper protein inventory in Chlamydomonas includes several whose functions are unexplored. The comprehensive picture of cuproproteins and copper homeostasis in this system is well-suited for reverse genetic analyses of these under-investigated components in copper biology.
Asunto(s)
Chlamydomonas/genética , Cobre/metabolismo , Fotosíntesis/genética , Transcriptoma/genética , Chlamydomonas/metabolismo , Citocromos c6/genética , Dihidrodipicolinato-Reductasa/genética , Complejo IV de Transporte de Electrones/genética , Regulación de la Expresión Génica de las Plantas/genética , Homeostasis/genética , Plastocianina/genéticaRESUMEN
In photosynthetic electron transport, large multiprotein complexes are connected by small diffusible electron carriers, the mobility of which is challenged by macromolecular crowding. For thylakoid membranes of higher plants, a long-standing question has been which of the two mobile electron carriers, plastoquinone or plastocyanin, mediates electron transport from stacked grana thylakoids where photosystem II (PSII) is localized to distant unstacked regions of the thylakoids that harbor PSI. Here, we confirm that plastocyanin is the long-range electron carrier by employing mutants with different grana diameters. Furthermore, our results explain why higher plants have a narrow range of grana diameters since a larger diffusion distance for plastocyanin would jeopardize the efficiency of electron transport. In the light of recent findings that the lumen of thylakoids, which forms the diffusion space of plastocyanin, undergoes dynamic swelling/shrinkage, this study demonstrates that plastocyanin diffusion is a crucial regulatory element of plant photosynthetic electron transport.