Far-red light photoacclimation in a desert Chroococcidiopsis strain with a reduced FaRLiP gene cluster and expression of its chlorophyll f synthase in space-resistant isolates

作者：Giorgia Di Stefano, Mariano Battistuzzi, Nicoletta La Rocca, Vera M. Selinger, Dennis J. Nürnberg, Daniela Billi · 发表于：Frontiers in Microbiology · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.3389/fmicb.2024.1450575 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Polar Research and Ecology、Light effects on plants、Biocrusts and Microbial Ecology

Introduction Some cyanobacteria can use far-red light (FRL) to drive oxygenic photosynthesis, a phenomenon known as Far-Red Light Photoacclimation (FaRLiP). It can expand photosynthetically active radiation beyond the visible light (VL) range. Therefore, it holds promise for biotechnological applications and may prove useful for the future human exploration of outer space. Typically, FaRLiP relies on a cluster of ~20 genes, encoding paralogs of the standard photosynthetic machinery. One of them, a highly divergent D1 gene known as chlF (or psbA4 ), is the synthase responsible for the formation of the FRL-absorbing chlorophyll f (Chl f ) that is essential for FaRLiP. The minimum gene set required for this phenotype is unclear. The desert cyanobacterium Chroococcidiopsis sp. CCMEE 010 is unusual in being capable of FaRLiP with a reduced gene cluster (15 genes), and it lacks most of the genes encoding FR-Photosystem I. Methods Here we investigated whether the reduced gene cluster of Chroococcidiopsis sp. CCMEE 010 is transcriptionally regulated by FRL and characterized the spectral changes that occur during the FaRLiP response of Chroococcidiopsis sp. CCMEE 010. In addition, the heterologous expression of the Chl f synthase from CCMEE 010 was attempted in three closely related desert strains of Chroococcidiopsis . Results All 15 genes of the FaRLiP cluster were preferentially expressed under FRL, accompanied by a progressive red-shift of the photosynthetic absorption spectrum. T...