Bacteriophytochromes: Phytochrome-Like Photoreceptors from Nonphotosynthetic Eubacteria

作者：Seth J Davis, Alexander V. Vener, Richard David Vierstra · 发表于：Science · 年份：1999 · DOI：10.1126/science.286.5449.2517 · 被引用次数：378 · 研究领域：Light effects on plants、Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms、Algal biology and biofuel production

Phytochromes are a family of photoreceptors used by green plants to entrain their development to the light environment. The distribution of these chromoproteins has been expanded beyond photoautotrophs with the discovery of phytochrome-like proteins in the nonphotosynthetic eubacteria Deinococcus radiodurans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Like plant phytochromes, the D. radiodurans receptor covalently binds linear tetrapyrroles autocatalytically to generate a photochromic holoprotein. However, the attachment site is distinct, using a histidine to potentially form a Schiff base linkage. Sequence homology and mutational analysis suggest that D. radiodurans bacteriophytochrome functions as a light-regulated histidine kinase, which helps protect the bacterium from visible light.