Signal transduction in light-oxygen-voltage receptors lacking the active-site glutamine.

In nature as in biotechnology, light-oxygen-voltage photoreceptors perceive blue light to elicit spatiotemporally defined cellular responses. Photon absorption drives thioadduct formation between a conserved cysteine and the flavin chromophore. An equally conserved, proximal glutamine processes the resultant flavin protonation into downstream hydrogen-bond rearrangements. Here, we report that this glutamine, long deemed essential, is generally dispensable. In its absence, several light-oxygen-voltage receptors invariably retained productive, if often attenuated, signaling responses. Structures of a light-oxygen-voltage paradigm at around 1 Å resolution revealed highly similar light-induced conformational changes, irrespective of whether the glutamine is present. Naturally occurring, glutamine-deficient light-oxygen-voltage receptors likely serve as bona fide photoreceptors, as we showcase for a diguanylate cyclase. We propose that without the glutamine, water molecules transiently approach the chromophore and thus propagate flavin protonation downstream. Signaling without glutamine appears intrinsic to light-oxygen-voltage receptors, which pertains to biotechnological applications and suggests evolutionary descendance from redox-active flavoproteins.

Open microfluidic gel electrophoresis: Rapid and low cost separation and analysis of DNA at the nanoliter scale.

Gel electrophoresis is one of the most applied and standardized tools for separation and analysis of macromolecules and their fragments in academic research and in industry. In this work we present a novel approach for conducting on-demand electrophoretic separations of DNA molecules in open microfluidic (OM) systems on planar polymer substrates. The approach combines advantages of slab gel, capillary- and chip-based methods offering low consumable costs (<0.1$) circumventing cost-intensive microfluidic chip fabrication, short process times (5 min per analysis) and high sensitivity (4 ng/µL dsDNA) combined with reasonable resolution (17 bases). The open microfluidic separation system comprises two opposing reservoirs of 2-4 µL in volume, a semi-contact written gel line acting as separation channel interconnecting the reservoirs and sample injected into the line via non-contact droplet dispensing and thus enabling the precise control of the injection plug and sample concentration. Evaporation is prevented by covering aqueous structures with PCR-grade mineral oil while maintaining surface temperature at 15°C. The liquid gel line exhibits a semi-circular cross section of adaptable width (∼200-600 µm) and height (∼30-80 µm) as well as a typical length of 15-55 mm. Layout of such liquid structures is adaptable on-demand not requiring time consuming and repetitive fabrication steps. The approach was successfully demonstrated by the separation of a standard label-free DNA ladder (100-1000 bp) at 100 V/cm via in-line staining and laser induced fluorescent end-point detection using an automated prototype.

Femto- to Microsecond Photodynamics of an Unusual Bacteriophytochrome.

A bacteriophytochrome from Stigmatella aurantiaca is an unusual member of the bacteriophytochrome family that is devoid of hydrogen bonding to the carbonyl group of ring D of the biliverdin (BV) chromophore. The photodynamics of BV in SaBphP1 wild type and the single mutant T289H reintroducing hydrogen bonding to ring D show that the strength of this particular weak interaction determines excited-state lifetime, Lumi-R quantum yield, and spectral heterogeneity. In particular, excited-state decay is faster in the absence of hydrogen-bonding to ring D, with excited-state half-lives of 30 and 80 ps for wild type and the T289H mutant, respectively. Concomitantly, the Lumi-R quantum yield is two times higher in wild type as compared with the T289H mutant. Furthermore, the spectral heterogeneity in the wild type is significantly higher than that in the T289H mutant. By extending the observable time domain to 25 µs, we observe a new deactivation pathway from the Lumi-R intermediate in the 100 ns time domain that corresponds to a backflip of ring D to the original Pr 15Za isomeric state.

Biophysical, mutational, and functional investigation of the chromophore-binding pocket of light-oxygen-voltage photoreceptors.

As light-regulated actuators, sensory photoreceptors underpin optogenetics and numerous applications in synthetic biology. Protein engineering has been applied to fine-tune the properties of photoreceptors and to generate novel actuators. For the blue-light-sensitive light-oxygen-voltage (LOV) photoreceptors, mutations near the flavin chromophore modulate response kinetics and the effective light responsiveness. To probe for potential, inadvertent effects on receptor activity, we introduced these mutations into the engineered LOV photoreceptor YF1 and determined their impact on light regulation. While several mutations severely impaired the dynamic range of the receptor (e.g., I39V, R63K, and N94A), residue substitutions in a second group were benign with little effect on regulation (e.g., V28T, N37C, and L82I). Electron paramagnetic resonance and absorption spectroscopy identified correlated effects for certain of the latter mutations on chromophore environment and response kinetics in YF1 and the LOV2 domain from Avena sativa phototropin 1. Carefully chosen mutations provide a powerful means to adjust the light-response function of photoreceptors as demanded for diverse applications.

Charting the signal trajectory in a light-oxygen-voltage photoreceptor by random mutagenesis and covariance analysis.

Modular signal receptors empower organisms to process environmental stimuli into adequate physiological responses. At the molecular level, a sensor module receives signals and processes the inherent information into changes of biological activity of an effector module. To better understand the molecular bases underpinning these processes, we analyzed signal reception and processing in the dimeric light-oxygen-voltage (LOV) blue light receptor YF1 that serves as a paradigm for the widespread Per-ARNT-Sim (PAS) signal receptors. Random mutagenesis identifies numerous YF1 variants in which biological activity is retained but where light regulation is abolished or inverted. One group of variants carries mutations within the LOV photosensor that disrupt proper coupling of the flavin-nucleotide chromophore to the protein scaffold. Another larger group bears mutations that cluster at the dyad interface and disrupt signal transmission to two coaxial coiled-coils that connect to the effector. Sequence covariation implies wide conservation of structural and mechanistic motifs, as also borne out by comparison to several PAS domains in which mutations leading to disruption of signal transduction consistently map to confined regions broadly equivalent to those identified in YF1. Not only do these data provide insight into general mechanisms of signal transduction, but also they establish concrete means for customized reprogramming of signal receptors.

Full-length structure of a sensor histidine kinase pinpoints coaxial coiled coils as signal transducers and modulators.

Two-component systems (TCSs), which comprise sensor histidine kinases (SHK) and response-regulator proteins, represent the predominant strategy by which prokaryotes sense and respond to a changing environment. Despite paramount biological importance, a dearth exists of intact SHK structures containing both sensor and effector modules. Here, we report the full-length crystal structure of the engineered, dimeric, blue-light-regulated SHK YF1 at 2.3 Å resolution, in which two N-terminal light-oxygen-voltage (LOV) photosensors are connected by a coiled coil to the C-terminal effector modules. A second coaxial coiled coil derived from the N-termini of the LOV photosensors and inserted between them crucially modulates light regulation: single mutations within this coiled coil attenuate or even invert the signal response of the TCS. Structural motifs identified in YF1 recur in signal receptors, and the underlying signaling principles and mechanisms may be widely shared between soluble and transmembrane, prokaryotic, and eukaryotic signal receptors of diverse biological activity.