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Science 1 November 1985:
Vol. 230. no. 4725, pp. 550 - 553
DOI: 10.1126/science.3931221
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Articles

Science, Vol 230, Issue 4725, 550-553
Copyright © 1985 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Cyanobacterial light-harvesting complex subunits encoded in two red light-induced transcripts

PB Conley, PG Lemaux, and AR Grossman

The major light-harvesting complex in cyanobacteria and red algae, the phycobilisome, is composed of chromophoric and nonchromophoric polypeptides. Two linked genes encoding major chromophoric components, the polypeptide subunits of phycocyanin, were isolated from the cyanobacterium Fremyella diplosiphon. Transcripts from this phycocyanin subunit gene cluster were present as major species in the cyanobacterium grown in red light, but not in cultures maintained in green light. The genes for the subunits of the red light-induced phycocyanin were transcribed together (beta-phycocyanin followed by alpha-phycocyanin) on two messenger RNA species; one contained 1600 bases while the other had 3800 bases. The latter, which encompassed the smaller transcript, contained additional sequences extending from the 3' end of the coding region of the alpha-phycocyanin gene. It may encode other light-induced components of the phycobilisome. Since phycocyanin, which effectively absorbs red light, becomes a dominant constituent of the phycobilisome in red light, these different levels may reflect an important adaptive mechanism of these organisms to their environment.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Genomic DNA Microarray Analysis: Identification of New Genes Regulated by Light Color in the Cyanobacterium Fremyella diplosiphon.
E. L. Stowe-Evans, J. Ford, and D. M. Kehoe (2004)
J. Bacteriol. 186, 4338-4349
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Lesions in Phycoerythrin Chromophore Biosynthesis in Fremyella diplosiphon Reveal Coordinated Light Regulation of Apoprotein and Pigment Biosynthetic Enzyme Gene Expression.
R. M. Alvey, J. A. Karty, E. Roos, J. P. Reilly, and D. M. Kehoe (2003)
PLANT CELL 15, 2448-2463
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A Turquoise Mutant Genetically Separates Expression of Genes Encoding Phycoerythrin and Its Associated Linker Peptides.
L. O. Seib and D. M. Kehoe (2002)
J. Bacteriol. 184, 962-970
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Differential Expression of Photosynthesis and Nitrogen Fixation Genes in the Cyanobacterium Plectonema boryanum.
H. S. Misra and R. Tuli (2000)
Plant Physiology 122, 731-736
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Tracking the Light Environment by Cyanobacteria and the Dynamic Nature of Light Harvesting.
A. R. Grossman, D. Bhaya, and Q. He (2001)
J. Biol. Chem. 276, 11449-11452
   Full Text »    PDF »


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