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Kerfeld CA, Sutter M. Orange carotenoid proteins: structural understanding of evolution and function. Trends Biochem Sci 2024:S0968-0004(24)00110-5. [PMID: 38789305 DOI: 10.1016/j.tibs.2024.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2024] [Revised: 04/15/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024]
Abstract
Cyanobacteria uniquely contain a primitive water-soluble carotenoprotein, the orange carotenoid protein (OCP). Nearly all extant cyanobacterial genomes contain genes for the OCP or its homologs, implying an evolutionary constraint for cyanobacteria to conserve its function. Genes encoding the OCP and its two constituent structural domains, the N-terminal domain, helical carotenoid proteins (HCPs), and its C-terminal domain, are found in the most basal lineages of extant cyanobacteria. These three carotenoproteins exemplify the importance of the protein for carotenoid properties, including protein dynamics, in response to environmental changes in facilitating a photoresponse and energy quenching. Here, we review new structural insights for these carotenoproteins and situate the role of the protein in what is currently understood about their functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheryl A Kerfeld
- MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA; Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
| | - Markus Sutter
- MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA; Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
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Steube N, Moldenhauer M, Weiland P, Saman D, Kilb A, Ramírez Rojas AA, Garg SG, Schindler D, Graumann PL, Benesch JLP, Bange G, Friedrich T, Hochberg GKA. Fortuitously compatible protein surfaces primed allosteric control in cyanobacterial photoprotection. Nat Ecol Evol 2023; 7:756-767. [PMID: 37012377 PMCID: PMC10172135 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02018-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2023]
Abstract
Highly specific interactions between proteins are a fundamental prerequisite for life, but how they evolve remains an unsolved problem. In particular, interactions between initially unrelated proteins require that they evolve matching surfaces. It is unclear whether such surface compatibilities can only be built by selection in small incremental steps, or whether they can also emerge fortuitously. Here, we used molecular phylogenetics, ancestral sequence reconstruction and biophysical characterization of resurrected proteins to retrace the evolution of an allosteric interaction between two proteins that act in the cyanobacterial photoprotection system. We show that this interaction between the orange carotenoid protein (OCP) and its unrelated regulator, the fluorescence recovery protein (FRP), evolved when a precursor of FRP was horizontally acquired by cyanobacteria. FRP's precursors could already interact with and regulate OCP even before these proteins first encountered each other in an ancestral cyanobacterium. The OCP-FRP interaction exploits an ancient dimer interface in OCP, which also predates the recruitment of FRP into the photoprotection system. Together, our work shows how evolution can fashion complex regulatory systems easily out of pre-existing components.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niklas Steube
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany
| | - Marcus Moldenhauer
- Institute of Chemistry PC14, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Paul Weiland
- Department of Chemistry, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO), Marburg, Germany
| | - Dominik Saman
- Department of Chemistry, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
- Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
| | - Alexandra Kilb
- Department of Chemistry, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO), Marburg, Germany
| | | | - Sriram G Garg
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany
| | - Daniel Schindler
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO), Marburg, Germany
| | - Peter L Graumann
- Department of Chemistry, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO), Marburg, Germany
| | - Justin L P Benesch
- Department of Chemistry, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
- Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
| | - Gert Bange
- Department of Chemistry, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO), Marburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Friedrich
- Institute of Chemistry PC14, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Georg K A Hochberg
- Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany.
- Department of Chemistry, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
- Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO), Marburg, Germany.
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Reflections on Cyanobacterial Chromatic Acclimation: Exploring the Molecular Bases of Organismal Acclimation and Motivation for Rethinking the Promotion of Equity in STEM. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 2022; 86:e0010621. [PMID: 35727025 PMCID: PMC9491170 DOI: 10.1128/mmbr.00106-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic organisms that exhibit characteristic acclimation and developmental responses to dynamic changes in the external light environment. Photomorphogenesis is the tuning of cellular physiology, development, morphology, and metabolism in response to external light cues. The tuning of photosynthetic pigmentation, carbon fixation capacity, and cellular and filament morphologies to changes in the prevalent wavelengths and abundance of light have been investigated to understand the regulation and fitness implications of different aspects of cyanobacterial photomorphogenesis. Chromatic acclimation (CA) is the most common form of photomorphogenesis that has been explored in cyanobacteria. Multiple types of CA in cyanobacteria have been reported, and insights gained into the regulatory pathways and networks controlling some of these CA types. I examine the recent expansion of CA types that occur in nature and provide an overview of known regulatory factors involved in distinct aspects of cyanobacterial photomorphogenesis. Additionally, I explore lessons for cultivating success in scientific communities that can be drawn from a reflection on existing knowledge of and approaches to studying CA.
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