Analysis of LhcSR3, a Protein Essential for Feedback De-Excitation in the Green Alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Journal Article · Tue Jan 18 00:00:00 EST 2011 · PLoS Biology (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1000577· OSTI ID:1627165

Bonente, Giulia ^[1]; Ballottari, Matteo ^[1]; Truong, Thuy B. ^[2]; Morosinotto, Tomas ^[3]; Ahn, Tae K. ^[4]; Fleming, Graham R. ^[4]; Niyogi, Krishna K. ^[2]; Bassi, Roberto ^[1]

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1. Universita di Verona (Italy). Dipartimento di Biotecnologie
2. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Plant and Microbial Biology; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Physical Biosciences Division
3. Universita di Padova (Italy). Dipartimento di Biologia
4. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Physical Biosciences Division; Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry

In photosynthetic organisms, feedback dissipation of excess absorbed light energy balances harvesting of light with metabolic energy consumption. This mechanism prevents photodamage caused by reactive oxygen species produced by the reaction of chlorophyll (Chl) triplet states with O2. Plants have been found to perform the heat dissipation in specific proteins, binding Chls and carotenoids (Cars), that belong to the Lhc family, while triggering of the process is performed by the PsbS subunit, needed for lumenal pH detection. PsbS is not found in algae, suggesting important differences in energy-dependent quenching (qE) machinery. Consistent with this suggestion, a different Lhc-like gene product, called LhcSR3 (formerly known as LI818) has been found to be essential for qE in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. In this work, we report the production of two recombinant LhcSR isoforms from C. reinhardtii and their biochemical and spectroscopic characterization. We found the following: (i) LhcSR isoforms are Chl a/b– and xanthophyll-binding proteins, contrary to higher plant PsbS; (ii) the LhcSR3 isoform, accumulating in high light, is a strong quencher of Chl excited states, exhibiting a very fast fluorescence decay, with lifetimes below 100 ps, capable of dissipating excitation energy from neighbor antenna proteins; (iii) the LhcSR3 isoform is highly active in the transient formation of Car radical cation, a species proposed to act as a quencher in the heat dissipation process. Remarkably, the radical cation signal is detected at wavelengths corresponding to the Car lutein, rather than to zeaxanthin, implying that the latter, predominant in plants, is not essential; (iv) LhcSR3 is responsive to low pH, the trigger of non-photochemical quenching, since it binds the nonphotochemical quenching inhibitor dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, and increases its energy dissipation properties upon acidification. This is the first report of an isolated Lhc protein constitutively active in energy dissipation in its purified form, opening the way to detailed molecular analysis. Owing to its protonatable residues and constitutive excitation energy dissipation, this protein appears to merge both pH-sensing and energy-quenching functions, accomplished respectively by PsbS and monomeric Lhcb proteins in plants.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Biological Systems Science Division
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 1627165
• Journal Information: PLoS Biology (Online), Vol. 9, Issue 1; ISSN 1545-7885
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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