Evolution of the biochemistry of the photorespiratory C2 cycle

Carbon and energy balance of biotechnological glycolate production from microalgae in a pre-industrial scale flat panel photobioreactor

Glycolate is produced by microalgae under photorespiratory conditions and has the potential for sustainable organic carbon production in biotechnology. This study explores the glycolate production balance in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, using a custom-built 10-L flat panel bioreactor with sophisticated measurements of process factors such as nutrient supply, gassing, light absorption and mass balances. As a result, detailed information regarding carbon and energy balance is obtained to support techno-economic analyses. It is shown how nitrogen is a crucial element in the biotechnological process and monitoring nitrogen content is vital for optimum performance. Moreover, the suitable reactor design is advantageous to efficiently adjust the gas composition. The oxygen content has to be slightly above 30% to induce photorespiration while maintaining photosynthetic efficiency. The final volume productivity reached 27.7 mg of glycolate per litre per hour, thus, the total process capacity can be calculated to 13 tonnes of glycolate per hectare per annum. The exceptional volume productivity of both biomass and glycolate production is demonstrated, and consequently can achieve a yearly CO2 sequestration rate of 35 tonnes per hectare. Although the system shows such high productivity, there are still opportunities to enhance the achieved volume productivity and thus exploit the biotechnological potential of glycolate production from microalgae.

Metabolic flexibility during a trophic transition reveals the phenotypic plasticity of greater duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza 7498)

The greater duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza 7498) exhibits trophic diversity (photoautotrophic, heterotrophic, photoheterotrophic, and mixotrophic growth) depending on the availability of exogenous organic carbon sources and light. Here, we show that the ability to transition between various trophic growth conditions is an advantageous trait, providing great phenotypic plasticity and metabolic flexibility in S. polyrhiza 7498. By comparing S. polyrhiza 7498 growth characteristics, metabolic acclimation, and cellular ultrastructure across these trophic modes, we show that mixotrophy decreases photosynthetic performance and relieves the CO2 limitation of photosynthesis by enhancing the CO2 supply through the active respiration pathway. Proteomic and metabolomic analyses corroborated that S. polyrhiza 7498 increases its intracellular CO2 and decreases reactive oxygen species under mixotrophic and heterotrophic conditions, which substantially suppressed the wasteful photorespiration and oxidative-damage pathways. As a consequence, mixotrophy resulted in a higher biomass yield than the sum of photoautotrophy and heterotrophy. Our work provides a basis for using trophic transitions in S. polyrhiza 7498 for the enhanced accumulation of value-added products.

Rubisco, the imperfect winner: it's all about the base

Rubisco catalysis is complex and includes an activation step through the formation of a carbamate at the conserved active site lysine residue and the formation of a highly reactive enediol that is the key to its catalytic reaction. The formation of this enediol is both the basis of its success and its Achilles' heel, creating imperfections to its catalytic efficiency. While Rubisco originally evolved in an atmosphere of high CO2, the earth's multiple oxidation events provided challenges to Rubisco through the fixation of O2 that competes with CO2 at the active site. Numerous catalytic screens across the Rubisco superfamily have identified significant variation in catalytic properties that have been linked to large and small subunit sequences. Despite this, we still have a rudimentary understanding of Rubisco's catalytic mechanism and how the evolution of kinetic properties has occurred. This review identifies the lysine base that functions both as an activator and a proton abstractor to create the enediol as a key to understanding how Rubisco may optimize its kinetic properties. The ways in which Rubisco and its partners have overcome catalytic and activation imperfections and thrived in a world of high O2, low CO2, and variable climatic regimes is remarkable.

Identification of glycolaldehyde, the simplest sugar, in plant systems

Glycolaldehyde, a C2 compound, is the simplest sugar molecule, but whether it inherently exists in plants remains unclear due to its complicated existence form in different reaction conditions.

What Antarctic Plants Can Tell Us about Climate Changes: Temperature as a Driver for Metabolic Reprogramming

Global warming is strongly affecting the maritime Antarctica climate and the consequent melting of perennial snow and ice covers resulted in increased colonization by plants. Colobanthus quitensis is a vascular plant highly adapted to the harsh environmental conditions of Antarctic Peninsula and understanding how the plant is responding to global warming is a new challenging target for modern cell physiology. To this aim, we performed differential proteomic analysis on C. quitensis plants grown in natural conditions compared to plants grown for one year inside open top chambers (OTCs) which determine an increase of about 4 °C at midday, mimicking the effect of global warming. A thorough analysis of the up- and downregulated proteins highlighted an extensive metabolism reprogramming leading to enhanced photoprotection and oxidative stress control as well as reduced content of cell wall components. Overall, OTCs growth seems to be advantageous for C. quitensis plants which could benefit from a better CO₂ diffusion into the mesophyll and a reduced ROS-mediated photodamage.

Transport Proteins Enabling Plant Photorespiratory Metabolism

Photorespiration (PR) is a metabolic repair pathway that acts in oxygenic photosynthetic organisms to degrade a toxic product of oxygen fixation generated by the enzyme ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase. Within the metabolic pathway, energy is consumed and carbon dioxide released. Consequently, PR is seen as a wasteful process making it a promising target for engineering to enhance plant productivity. Transport and channel proteins connect the organelles accomplishing the PR pathway-chloroplast, peroxisome, and mitochondrion-and thus enable efficient flux of PR metabolites. Although the pathway and the enzymes catalyzing the biochemical reactions have been the focus of research for the last several decades, the knowledge about transport proteins involved in PR is still limited. This review presents a timely state of knowledge with regard to metabolite channeling in PR and the participating proteins. The significance of transporters for implementation of synthetic bypasses to PR is highlighted. As an excursion, the physiological contribution of transport proteins that are involved in C₄ metabolism is discussed.

Wide range of metabolic adaptations to the acquisition of the Calvin cycle revealed by comparison of microbial genomes

Knowledge of the genetic basis for autotrophic metabolism is valuable since it relates to both the emergence of life and to the metabolic engineering challenge of incorporating CO2 as a potential substrate for biorefining. The most common CO2 fixation pathway is the Calvin cycle, which utilizes Rubisco and phosphoribulokinase enzymes. We searched thousands of microbial genomes and found that 6.0% contained the Calvin cycle. We then contrasted the genomes of Calvin cycle-positive, non-cyanobacterial microbes and their closest relatives by enrichment analysis, ancestral character estimation, and random forest machine learning, to explore genetic adaptations associated with acquisition of the Calvin cycle. The Calvin cycle overlaps with the pentose phosphate pathway and glycolysis, and we could confirm positive associations with fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, aldolase, and transketolase, constituting a conserved operon, as well as ribulose-phosphate 3-epimerase, ribose-5-phosphate isomerase, and phosphoglycerate kinase. Additionally, carbohydrate storage enzymes, carboxysome proteins (that raise CO2 concentration around Rubisco), and Rubisco activases CbbQ and CbbX accompanied the Calvin cycle. Photorespiration did not appear to be adapted specifically for the Calvin cycle in the non-cyanobacterial microbes under study. Our results suggest that chemoautotrophy in Calvin cycle-positive organisms was commonly enabled by hydrogenase, and less commonly ammonia monooxygenase (nitrification). The enrichment of specific DNA-binding domains indicated Calvin-cycle associated genetic regulation. Metabolic regulatory adaptations were illustrated by negative correlation to AraC and the enzyme arabinose-5-phosphate isomerase, which suggests a downregulation of the metabolite arabinose-5-phosphate, which may interfere with the Calvin cycle through enzyme inhibition and substrate competition. Certain domains of unknown function that were found to be important in the analysis may indicate yet unknown regulatory mechanisms in Calvin cycle-utilizing microbes. Our gene ranking provides targets for experiments seeking to improve CO2 fixation, or engineer novel CO2-fixing organisms.

Physiological Roles of Flavodiiron Proteins and Photorespiration in the Liverwort Marchantia polymorpha

Against the potential risk in oxygenic photosynthesis, that is, the generation of reactive oxygen species, photosynthetic electron transport needs to be regulated in response to environmental fluctuations. One of the most important regulations is keeping the reaction center chlorophyll (P700) of photosystem I in its oxidized form in excess light conditions. The oxidation of P700 is supported by dissipating excess electrons safely to O₂, and we previously found that the molecular mechanism of the alternative electron sink is changed from flavodiiron proteins (FLV) to photorespiration in the evolutionary history from cyanobacteria to plants. However, the overall picture of the regulation of photosynthetic electron transport is still not clear in bryophytes, the evolutionary intermediates. Here, we investigated the physiological roles of FLV and photorespiration for P700 oxidation in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha by using the mutants deficient in FLV (flv1) at different O₂ partial pressures. The effective quantum yield of photosystem II significantly decreased at 2kPa O₂ in flv1, indicating that photorespiration functions as the electron sink. Nevertheless, it was clear from the phenotype of flv1 that FLV was dominant for P700 oxidation in M. polymorpha. These data suggested that photorespiration has yet not replaced FLV in functioning for P700 oxidation in the basal land plant probably because of the lower contribution to lumen acidification, compared with FLV, as reflected in the results of electrochromic shift analysis.

Ecophysiological Traits of Invasive C3 Species Calotropis procera to Maintain High Photosynthetic Performance Under High VPD and Low Soil Water Balance in Semi-Arid and Seacoast Zones

The evergreen C3 plant Calotropis procera is native to arid environments. Thus, it grows under high vapor pressure deficit (VPD), intense light, and severe drought conditions. We measured several ecophysiological traits in C. procera plants growing in semi-arid and seacoast environments to assess the attributes that support its photosynthetic performance under these contrasting conditions. Gas exchange analysis, primary metabolism content, nutrients, the antioxidant system, and leaf anatomy traits were measured under field conditions. In the semi-arid environment, C. procera was exposed to a prolonged drought season with a negative soil water balance during the 2 years of the study. Calotropis procera plants were exposed to a positive soil water balance only in the rainy season in the seacoast environment. The leaves of C. procera showed the same photosynthetic rate under high or low VPD, even in dry seasons with a negative soil water balance. Photosynthetic pigments, leaf sugar content, and the activity of antioxidant enzymes were increased in both places in the dry season. However, the anatomical adjustments were contrasting: while, in the semi-arid environment, mesophyll thickness increased in the driest year, in the seacoast environment, the cuticle thickness and trichome density were increased. The ability to maintain photosynthetic performance through the seasons would be supported by new leaves with different morpho-anatomical traits, with contrasting changes between semi-arid and seacoast environments. Furthermore, our results suggest that an efficient antioxidative system and leaf sugar dynamics can contribute to protecting the photosynthetic machinery even under severe drought.

Evolution of Photorespiratory Glycolate Oxidase among Archaeplastida

Photorespiration has been shown to be essential for all oxygenic phototrophs in the present-day oxygen-containing atmosphere. The strong similarity of the photorespiratory cycle in cyanobacteria and plants led to the hypothesis that oxygenic photosynthesis and photorespiration co-evolved in cyanobacteria, and then entered the eukaryotic algal lineages up to land plants via endosymbiosis. However, the evolutionary origin of the photorespiratory enzyme glycolate oxidase (GOX) is controversial, which challenges the common origin hypothesis. Here, we tested this hypothesis using phylogenetic and biochemical approaches with broad taxon sampling. Phylogenetic analysis supported the view that a cyanobacterial GOX-like protein of the 2-hydroxy-acid oxidase family most likely served as an ancestor for GOX in all eukaryotes. Furthermore, our results strongly indicate that GOX was recruited to the photorespiratory metabolism at the origin of Archaeplastida, because we verified that Glaucophyta, Rhodophyta, and Streptophyta all express GOX enzymes with preference for the substrate glycolate. Moreover, an “ancestral” protein synthetically derived from the node separating all prokaryotic from eukaryotic GOX-like proteins also preferred glycolate over l-lactate. These results support the notion that a cyanobacterial ancestral protein laid the foundation for the evolution of photorespiratory GOX enzymes in modern eukaryotic phototrophs.

The trouble with oxygen: The ecophysiology of extant phototrophs and implications for the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis

The ability to harvest light to drive chemical reactions and gain energy provided microbes access to high energy electron donors which fueled primary productivity, biogeochemical cycles, and microbial evolution. Oxygenic photosynthesis is often cited as the most important microbial innovation-the emergence of oxygen-evolving photosynthesis, aided by geologic events, is credited with tipping the scale from a reducing early Earth to an oxygenated world that eventually lead to complex life. Anoxygenic photosynthesis predates oxygen-evolving photosynthesis and played a key role in developing and fine-tuning the photosystem architecture of modern oxygenic phototrophs. The release of oxygen as a by-product of metabolic activity would have caused oxidative damage to anaerobic microbiota that evolved under the anoxic, reducing conditions of early Earth. Photosynthetic machinery is particularly susceptible to the adverse effects of oxygen and reactive oxygen species and these effects are compounded by light. As a result, phototrophs employ additional detoxification mechanisms to mitigate oxidative stress and have evolved alternative oxygen-dependent enzymes for chlorophyll biosynthesis. Phylogenetic reconstruction studies and biochemical characterization suggest photosynthetic reactions centers, particularly in Cyanobacteria, evolved to both increase efficiency of electron transfer and avoid photodamage caused by chlorophyll radicals that is acute in the presence of oxygen. Here we review the oxygen and reactive oxygen species detoxification mechanisms observed in extant anoxygenic and oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria as well as the emergence of these mechanisms over evolutionary time. We examine the distribution of phototrophs in modern systems and phylogenetic reconstructions to evaluate the emergence of mechanisms to mediate oxidative damage and highlight changes in photosystems and reaction centers, chlorophyll biosynthesis, and niche space in response to oxygen production. This synthesis supports an emergence of H₂S-driven anoxygenic photosynthesis in Cyanobacteria prior to the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis and underscores a role for the former metabolism in fueling fine-tuning of the oxygen evolving complex and mechanisms to repair oxidative damage. In contrast, we note the lack of elaborate mechanisms to deal with oxygen in non-cyanobacterial anoxygenic phototrophs suggesting these microbes have occupied similar niche space throughout Earth's history.

Comparative analysis of strategies to prepare electron sinks in aquatic photoautotrophs

While subject to illumination, photosystem I (PSI) has the potential to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can cause photo-oxidative damage in oxygenic photoautotrophs. The reaction center chlorophyll in PSI (P700) is kept oxidized in excess light conditions to limit over-excitation of PSI and alleviate the production of ROS. Oxidation of P700 requires a sufficient electron sink for PSI, which is responsible for flavodiiron proteins (FLV) safely dissipating electrons to O₂ in cyanobacteria, green algae, and land plants except for angiosperms during short-pulse light (SP) illumination under which photosynthesis and photorespiration do not occur. This fact implies that O₂ usage is essential for P700 oxidation but also raises the question why angiosperms lost FLV. Here, we first found that aquatic photoautotrophs in red plastid lineage, in which no gene for FLV has been found, could keep P700 oxidized during SP illumination alleviating the photo-oxidative damage in PSI even without O₂ usage. We comprehensively assessed P700 oxidation during SP illumination in the presence and absence of O₂ in cyanobacteria (Cyanophyta), green algae (Chlorophyta), angiosperms (Streptophyta), red algae (Rhodophyta), and secondary algae (Cryptophyta, Haptophyta, and Heterokontophyta). A variety of dependencies of P700 oxidation on O₂ among these photoautotrophs clearly suggest that O₂ usage and FLV are not universally required to oxidize P700 for protecting PSI against ROS damage. Our results expand the understanding of the diverse strategies taken by oxygenic photoautotrophs to oxidize P700 and mitigate the risks of ROS.

Efficient 2-phosphoglycolate degradation is required to maintain carbon assimilation and allocation in the C4 plant Flaveria bidentis

Photorespiration is indispensable for oxygenic photosynthesis since it detoxifies and recycles 2-phosphoglycolate (2PG), which is the primary oxygenation product of Rubisco. However, C4 plant species typically display very low rates of photorespiration due to their efficient biochemical carbon-concentrating mechanism. Thus, the broader relevance of photorespiration in these organisms remains unclear. In this study, we assessed the importance of a functional photorespiratory pathway in the C4 plant Flaveria bidentis using knockdown of the first enzymatic step, namely 2PG phosphatase (PGLP). The isolated RNAi lines showed strongly reduced amounts of PGLP protein, but distinct signs of the photorespiratory phenotype only emerged below 5% residual PGLP protein. Lines with this characteristic were stunted in growth, had strongly increased 2PG content, exhibited accelerated leaf senescence, and accumulated high amounts of branched-chain and aromatic amino acids, which are both characteristics of incipient carbon starvation. Oxygen-dependent gas-exchange measurements consistently suggested the cumulative impairment of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate regeneration with increased photorespiratory pressure. Our results indicate that photorespiration is essential for maintaining high rates of C4 photosynthesis by preventing the 2PG-mediated inhibition of carbon utilization efficiency. However, considerably higher 2PG accumulation can be tolerated compared to equivalent lines of C3 plants due to the differential distribution of specific enzymatic steps between the mesophyll and bundle sheath cells.

Genetic responses to carbon and nitrogen availability in Anabaena

Heterocyst-forming cyanobacteria are filamentous organisms that perform oxygenic photosynthesis and CO₂ fixation in vegetative cells and nitrogen fixation in heterocysts, which are formed under deprivation of combined nitrogen. These organisms can acclimate to use different sources of nitrogen and respond to different levels of CO₂ . Following work mainly done with the best studied heterocyst-forming cyanobacterium, Anabaena, here we summarize the mechanisms of assimilation of ammonium, nitrate, urea and N₂ , the latter involving heterocyst differentiation, and describe aspects of CO₂ assimilation that involves a carbon concentration mechanism. These processes are subjected to regulation establishing a hierarchy in the assimilation of nitrogen sources -with preference for the most reduced nitrogen forms- and a dependence on sufficient carbon. This regulation largely takes place at the level of gene expression and is exerted by a variety of transcription factors, including global and pathway-specific transcriptional regulators. NtcA is a CRP-family protein that adjusts global gene expression in response to the C-to-N balance in the cells, and PacR is a LysR-family transcriptional regulator (LTTR) that extensively acclimates the cells to oxygenic phototrophy. A cyanobacterial-specific transcription factor, HetR, is involved in heterocyst differentiation, and other LTTR factors are specifically involved in nitrate and CO₂ assimilation.

Faster photosynthetic induction in tobacco by expressing cyanobacterial flavodiiron proteins in chloroplasts

Plants grown in the field experience sharp changes in irradiation due to shading effects caused by clouds, other leaves, etc. The excess of absorbed light energy is dissipated by a number of mechanisms including cyclic electron transport, photorespiration, and Mehler-type reactions. This protection is essential for survival but decreases photosynthetic efficiency. All phototrophs except angiosperms harbor flavodiiron proteins (Flvs) which relieve the excess of excitation energy on the photosynthetic electron transport chain by reducing oxygen directly to water. Introduction of cyanobacterial Flv1/Flv3 in tobacco chloroplasts resulted in transgenic plants that showed similar photosynthetic performance under steady-state illumination, but displayed faster recovery of various photosynthetic parameters, including electron transport and non-photochemical quenching during dark-light transitions. They also kept the electron transport chain in a more oxidized state and enhanced the proton motive force of dark-adapted leaves. The results indicate that, by acting as electron sinks during light transitions, Flvs contribute to increase photosynthesis protection and efficiency under changing environmental conditions as those found by plants in the field.

Coordinating carbon and nitrogen metabolic signaling through the cyanobacterial global repressor NdhR

The coordination of carbon and nitrogen metabolism is essential for bacteria to adapt to nutritional variations in the environment, but the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. In autotrophic cyanobacteria, high CO₂ levels favor the carboxylase activity of ribulose 1,5 bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) to produce 3-phosphoglycerate, whereas low CO₂ levels promote the oxygenase activity of RuBisCO, leading to 2-phosphoglycolate (2-PG) production. Thus, the 2-PG level is reversely correlated with that of 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG), which accumulates under a high carbon/nitrogen ratio and acts as a nitrogen-starvation signal. The LysR-type transcriptional repressor NAD(P)H dehydrogenase regulator (NdhR) controls the expression of genes related to carbon metabolism. Based on genetic and biochemical studies, we report here that 2-PG is an inducer of NdhR, while 2-OG is a corepressor, as found previously. Furthermore, structural analyses indicate that binding of 2-OG at the interface between the two regulatory domains (RD) allows the NdhR tetramer to adopt a repressor conformation, whereas 2-PG binding to an intradomain cleft of each RD triggers drastic conformational changes leading to the dissociation of NdhR from its target DNA. We further confirmed the effect of 2-PG or 2-OG levels on the transcription of the NdhR regulon. Together with previous findings, we propose that NdhR can sense 2-OG from the Krebs cycle and 2-PG from photorespiration, two key metabolites that function together as indicators of intracellular carbon/nitrogen status, thus representing a fine sensor for the coordination of carbon and nitrogen metabolism in cyanobacteria.

RubisCO Early Oxygenase Activity: A Kinetic and Evolutionary Perspective

RubisCO (D-ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) is Earth's main enzyme responsible for CO₂ fixation via carboxylation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) into organic matter. Besides the carboxylation reaction, RubisCO also catalyzes the oxygenation of RuBP by O₂ , which is probably as old as its carboxylation properties. Based on molecular phylogeny, the occurrence of the reactive oxygen species (ROS)-removing system and kinetic properties of different RubisCO forms, we postulated that RubisCO oxygenase activity appeared in local microoxic areas, yet before the appearance of oxygenic photosynthesis. Here, in reviewing the literature, we present a novel hypothesis: the RubisCO early oxygenase activity hypothesis. This hypothesis may be compared with the exaptation hypothesis, according to which latent RubisCO oxygenase properties emerged later during the oxygenation of the Earth's atmosphere. The reconstruction of ancestral RubisCO forms using ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR) techniques, as a promising way for testing of RubisCO early oxygenase activity hypothesis, is presented.

Reduction-Induced Suppression of Electron Flow (RISE) in the Photosynthetic Electron Transport System of Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942

Accumulation of electrons under conditions of environmental stress produces a reduced state in the photosynthetic electron transport (PET) system and causes the reduction of O₂ by PSI in the thylakoid membranes to produce the reactive oxygen species superoxide radical, which irreversibly inactivates PSI. This study aims to elucidate the molecular mechanism for the oxidation of reaction center Chl of PSI, P700, after saturated pulse (SP) light illumination of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 under steady-state photosynthetic conditions. Both P700 and NADPH were transiently oxidized after SP light illumination under CO₂-depleted photosynthesis conditions. In contrast, the Chl fluorescence intensity transiently increased. Compared with the wild type, the increase in Chl fluorescence and the oxidations of P700 and NADPH were greatly enhanced in a mutant (Δflv1/3) deficient in the genes encoding FLAVODIIRON 1 (FLV1) and FLV3 proteins even under high photosynthetic conditions. Furthermore, oxidation of Cyt f was also observed in the mutant. After SP light illumination, a transient suppression of O₂ evolution was also observed in Δflv1/3. From these observations, we propose that the reduction in the plastquinone (PQ) pool suppresses linear electron flow at the Cyt b₆/f complex, which we call the reduction-induced suppression of electron flow (RISE) in the PET system. The accumulation of the reduced form of PQ probably suppresses turnover of the Q cycle in the Cyt b₆/f complex.

Evolution of photorespiration from cyanobacteria to land plants, considering protein phylogenies and acquisition of carbon concentrating mechanisms

Photorespiration and oxygenic photosynthesis are intimately linked processes. It has been shown that under the present day atmospheric conditions cyanobacteria and all eukaryotic phototrophs need functional photorespiration to grow autotrophically. The question arises as to when this essential partnership evolved, i.e. can we assume a coevolution of both processes from the beginning or did photorespiration evolve later to compensate for the generation of 2-phosphoglycolate (2PG) due to Rubisco's oxygenase reaction? This question is mainly discussed here using phylogenetic analysis of proteins involved in the 2PG metabolism and the acquisition of different carbon concentrating mechanisms (CCMs). The phylogenies revealed that the enzymes involved in the photorespiration of vascular plants have diverse origins, with some proteins acquired from cyanobacteria as ancestors of the chloroplasts and others from heterotrophic bacteria as ancestors of mitochondria in the plant cell. Only phosphoglycolate phosphatase was found to originate from Archaea. Notably glaucophyte algae, the earliest branching lineage of Archaeplastida, contain more photorespiratory enzymes of cyanobacterial origin than other algal lineages or land plants indicating a larger initial contribution of cyanobacterial-derived proteins to eukaryotic photorespiration. The acquisition of CCMs is discussed as a proxy for assessing the timing of periods when photorespiratory activity may have been enhanced. The existence of CCMs also had marked influence on the structure and function of photorespiration. Here, we discuss evidence for an early and continuous coevolution of photorespiration, CCMs and photosynthesis starting from cyanobacteria via algae, to land plants.

Can cyanobacteria serve as a model of plant photorespiration? - a comparative meta-analysis of metabolite profiles

Photorespiration is a process that is crucial for the survival of oxygenic phototrophs in environments that favour the oxygenation reaction of Rubisco. While photorespiration is conserved among cyanobacteria, algae, and embryophytes, it evolved to different levels of complexity in these phyla. The highest complexity is found in embryophytes, where the pathway involves four cellular compartments and respective transport processes. The complexity of photorespiration in embryophytes raises the question whether a simpler system, such as cyanobacteria, may serve as a model to facilitate our understanding of the common key aspects of photorespiration. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis of publicly available metabolite profiles from the embryophyte Arabidopsis thaliana and the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 grown under conditions that either activate or suppress photorespiration. The comparative meta-analysis evaluated the similarity of metabolite profiles, the variability of metabolite pools, and the patterns of metabolite ratios. Our results show that the metabolic signature of photorespiration is in part conserved between the compared model organisms under conditions that favour the oxygenation reaction. Therefore, our findings support the claim that cyanobacteria can serve as prokaryotic models of photorespiration in embryophytes.

Photorespiratory glycolate oxidase is essential for the survival of the red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae under ambient CO2 conditions

Photorespiration is essential for all organisms performing oxygenic photosynthesis. The evolution of photorespiratory metabolism began among cyanobacteria and led to a highly compartmented pathway in plants. A molecular understanding of photorespiration in eukaryotic algae, such as glaucophytes, rhodophytes, and chlorophytes, is essential to unravel the evolution of this pathway. However, mechanistic detail of the photorespiratory pathway in red algae is scarce. The unicellular red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae represents a model for the red lineage. Its genome is fully sequenced, and tools for targeted gene engineering are available. To study the function and importance of photorespiration in red algae, we chose glycolate oxidase (GOX) as the target. GOX catalyses the conversion of glycolate into glyoxylate, while hydrogen peroxide is generated as a side-product. The function of the candidate GOX from C. merolae was verified by the fact that recombinant GOX preferred glycolate over L-lactate as a substrate. Yellow fluorescent protein-GOX fusion proteins showed that GOX is targeted to peroxisomes in C. merolae The GOX knockout mutant lines showed a high-carbon-requiring phenotype with decreased growth and reduced photosynthetic activity compared to the wild type under ambient air conditions. Metabolite analyses revealed glycolate and glycine accumulation in the mutant cells after a shift from high CO2 conditions to ambient air. In summary, or results demonstrate that photorespiratory metabolism is essential for red algae. The use of a peroxisomal GOX points to a high photorespiratory flux as an ancestral feature of all photosynthetic eukaryotes.

Photorespiratory glycolate-glyoxylate metabolism

Photorespiration is one of the major carbon metabolism pathways in oxygen-producing photosynthetic organisms. This pathway recycles 2-phosphoglycolate (2-PG), a toxic metabolite, to 3-phosphoglycerate when ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) uses oxygen instead of carbon dioxide. The photorespiratory cycle is in competition with photosynthetic CO2 fixation and it is accompanied by carbon, nitrogen and energy losses. Thus, photorespiration has become a target to improve crop yields. Moreover, during the photorespiratory cycle intermediate metabolites that are toxic to Calvin-Benson cycle and RuBisCO activities, such as 2-PG, glycolate and glyoxylate, are produced. Thus, the presence of an efficient 2-PG/glycolate/glyoxylate 'detoxification' pathway is required to ensure normal development of photosynthetic organisms. Here we review our current knowledge concerning the enzymes that carry out the glycolate-glyoxylate metabolic steps of photorespiration from glycolate production in the chloroplasts to the synthesis of glycine in the peroxisomes. We describe the properties of the proteins involved in glycolate-glyoxylate metabolism in Archaeplastida and the phenotypes observed when knocking down/out these specific photorespiratory players. Advances in our understanding of the regulation of glycolate-glyoxylate metabolism are highlighted.

Optimizing Rubisco and its regulation for greater resource use efficiency

Rubisco catalyses the carboxylation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP), enabling net CO2 assimilation in photosynthesis. The properties and regulation of Rubisco are not optimal for biomass production in current and projected future environments. Rubisco is relatively inefficient, and large amounts of the enzyme are needed to support photosynthesis, requiring large investments in nitrogen. The competing oxygenation of RuBP by Rubisco decreases photosynthetic efficiency. Additionally, Rubisco is inhibited by some sugar phosphates and depends upon interaction with Rubisco activase (Rca) to be reactivated. Rca activity is modulated by the chloroplast redox status and ADP/ATP ratios, thereby mediating Rubisco activation and photosynthetic induction in response to irradiance. The extreme thermal sensitivity of Rca compromises net CO2 assimilation at moderately high temperatures. Given its central role in carbon assimilation, the improvement of Rubisco function and regulation is tightly linked with irradiance, nitrogen and water use efficiencies. Although past attempts have had limited success, novel technologies and an expanding knowledge base make the challenge of improving Rubisco activity in crops an achievable goal. Strategies to optimize Rubisco and its regulation are addressed in relation to their potential to improve crop resource use efficiency and climate resilience of photosynthesis.

Metabolic connectivity as a driver of host and endosymbiont integration

The origin of oxygenic photosynthesis in the Archaeplastida common ancestor was foundational for the evolution of multicellular life. It is very likely that the primary endosymbiosis that explains plastid origin relied initially on the establishment of a metabolic connection between the host cell and captured cyanobacterium. We posit that these connections were derived primarily from existing host-derived components. To test this idea, we used phylogenomic and network analysis to infer the phylogenetic origin and evolutionary history of 37 validated plastid innermost membrane (permeome) metabolite transporters from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Our results show that 57% of these transporter genes are of eukaryotic origin and that the captured cyanobacterium made a relatively minor (albeit important) contribution to the process. We also tested the hypothesis that the bacterium-derived hexose-phosphate transporter UhpC might have been the primordial sugar transporter in the Archaeplastida ancestor. Bioinformatic and protein localization studies demonstrate that this protein in the extremophilic red algae Galdieria sulphuraria and Cyanidioschyzon merolae are plastid targeted. Given this protein is also localized in plastids in the glaucophyte alga Cyanophora paradoxa, we suggest it played a crucial role in early plastid endosymbiosis by connecting the endosymbiont and host carbon storage networks. In summary, our work significantly advances understanding of plastid integration and favors a host-centric view of endosymbiosis. Under this view, nuclear genes of either eukaryotic or bacterial (noncyanobacterial) origin provided key elements of the toolkit needed for establishing metabolic connections in the primordial Archaeplastida lineage.

Identification of the light-independent phosphoserine pathway as an additional source of serine in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

L-serine is one of the proteinogenic amino acids and participates in several essential processes in all organisms. In plants, the light-dependent photorespiratory and the light-independent phosphoserine pathways contribute to serine biosynthesis. In cyanobacteria, the light-dependent photorespiratory pathway for serine synthesis is well characterized, but the phosphoserine pathway has not been identified. Here, we investigated three candidate genes for enzymes of the phosphoserine pathway in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Only the gene for the D-3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase is correctly annotated in the genome database, whereas the 3-phosphoserine transaminase and 3-phosphoserine phosphatase (PSP) proteins are incorrectly annotated and were identified here. All enzymes were obtained as recombinant proteins and showed the activities necessary to catalyse the three-step phosphoserine pathway. The genes coding for the phosphoserine pathway were found in most cyanobacterial genomes listed in CyanoBase. The pathway seems to be essential for cyanobacteria, because it was impossible to mutate the gene coding for PSP in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 or in Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942. A model approach indicates a 30-60% contribution of the phosphoserine pathway to the overall serine pool. Hence, this study verified that cyanobacteria, similar to plants, use the phosphoserine pathway in addition to photorespiration for serine biosynthesis.

FLAVODIIRON2 and FLAVODIIRON4 proteins mediate an oxygen-dependent alternative electron flow in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 under CO2-limited conditions

This study aims to elucidate the molecular mechanism of an alternative electron flow (AEF) functioning under suppressed (CO2-limited) photosynthesis in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Photosynthetic linear electron flow, evaluated as the quantum yield of photosystem II [Y(II)], reaches a maximum shortly after the onset of actinic illumination. Thereafter, Y(II) transiently decreases concomitantly with a decrease in the photosynthetic oxygen evolution rate and then recovers to a rate that is close to the initial maximum. These results show that CO2 limitation suppresses photosynthesis and induces AEF. In contrast to the wild type, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 mutants deficient in the genes encoding FLAVODIIRON2 (FLV2) and FLV4 proteins show no recovery of Y(II) after prolonged illumination. However, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 mutants deficient in genes encoding proteins functioning in photorespiration show AEF activity similar to the wild type. In contrast to Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 has no FLV proteins with high homology to FLV2 and FLV4 in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. This lack of FLV2/4 may explain why AEF is not induced under CO2-limited photosynthesis in S. elongatus PCC 7942. As the glutathione S-transferase fusion protein overexpressed in Escherichia coli exhibits NADH-dependent oxygen reduction to water, we suggest that FLV2 and FLV4 mediate oxygen-dependent AEF in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 when electron acceptors such as CO2 are not available.

Regulation of CO2 Concentrating Mechanism in Cyanobacteria

In this chapter, we mainly focus on the acclimation of cyanobacteria to the changing ambient CO2 and discuss mechanisms of inorganic carbon (Ci) uptake, photorespiration, and the regulation among the metabolic fluxes involved in photoautotrophic, photomixotrophic and heterotrophic growth. The structural components for several of the transport and uptake mechanisms are described and the progress towards elucidating their regulation is discussed in the context of studies, which have documented metabolomic changes in response to changes in Ci availability. Genes for several of the transport and uptake mechanisms are regulated by transcriptional regulators that are in the LysR-transcriptional regulator family and are known to act in concert with small molecule effectors, which appear to be well-known metabolites. Signals that trigger changes in gene expression and enzyme activity correspond to specific "regulatory metabolites" whose concentrations depend on the ambient Ci availability. Finally, emerging evidence for an additional layer of regulatory complexity involving small non-coding RNAs is discussed.

Does 2-phosphoglycolate serve as an internal signal molecule of inorganic carbon deprivation in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803?

Cyanobacteria possess CO2 -concentrating mechanisms (CCM) that functionally compensate for the poor affinity of their ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) to CO2 . It was proposed that 2-phosphoglycolate (2PG), produced by the oxygenase activity of Rubisco and metabolized via photorespiratory routes, serves as a signal molecule for the induction of CCM-related genes under limiting CO2 level (LC) conditions. However, in vivo evidence is still missing. Since 2PG does not permeate the cells, we manipulated its internal concentration. Four putative phosphoglycolate phosphatases (PGPases) encoding genes (slr0458, sll1349, slr0586 and slr1762) were identified in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803. Expression of slr0458 in Escherichia coli led to a significant rise in PGPase activity. A Synechocystis mutant overexpressing (OE) slr0458 was constructed. Compared with the wild type (WT), the mutant grew slower under limiting CO2 concentration and the intracellular 2PG level was considerably smaller than in the wild type, the transcript abundance of LC-induced genes including cmpA, sbtA and ndhF3 was reduced, and the OE cells acclimated slower to LC - indicated by the delayed rise in the apparent photosynthetic affinity to inorganic carbon. Data obtained here implicated 2PG in the acclimation of this cyanobacterium to LC but also indicated that other, yet to be identified components, are involved.

Photosynthetic diversity meets biodiversity: the C4 plant example

Physiological diversification reflects adaptation for specific environmental challenges. As the major physiological process that provides plants with carbon and energy, photosynthesis is under strong evolutionary selection that gives rise to variability in nearly all parts of the photosynthetic apparatus. Here, we discuss how plants, notably those using C4 photosynthesis, diversified in response to environmental challenges imposed by declining atmospheric CO2 content in recent geological time. This reduction in atmospheric CO2 increases the rate of photorespiration and reduces photosynthetic efficiency. While plants have evolved numerous mechanisms to compensate for low CO2, the most effective are the carbon concentration mechanisms of C4, C2, and CAM photosynthesis; and the pumping of dissolved inorganic carbon, mainly by algae. C4 photosynthesis enables plants to dominate warm, dry and often salinized habitats, and to colonize areas that are too stressful for most plant groups. Because C4 lineages generally lack arborescence, they cannot form forests. Hence, where they predominate, C4 plants create a different landscape than would occur if C3 plants were to predominate. These landscapes (mostly grasslands and savannahs) present unique selection environments that promoted the diversification of animal guilds able to graze upon the C4 vegetation. Thus, the rise of C4 photosynthesis has made a significant contribution to the origin of numerous biomes in the modern biosphere.

Does the Cyanophora paradoxa genome revise our view on the evolution of photorespiratory enzymes?

In the present-day O2 -rich atmosphere, the photorespiratory pathway is essential for organisms performing oxygenic photosynthesis; i.e. cyanobacteria, algae and land plants. The presence of enzymes for the plant-like 2-phosphoglycolate cycle in cyanobacteria indicates that, together with oxygenic photosynthesis, genes for photorespiratory enzymes were endosymbiotically conveyed from ancient cyanobacteria to photosynthetic eukaryotes. The genome information for Cyanophora paradoxa, a member of the Glaucophyta representing the first branching group of primary endosymbionts, and for many other eukaryotic algae was used to shed light on the evolutionary relationship of photorespiratory enzymes among oxygenic phototrophs. For example, it became possible to analyse the phylogenies of 2-phosphoglycolate phosphatase, serine:glyoxylate aminotransferase and hydroxypyruvate reductase. Analysis of the Cyanophora genome provided clear evidence that some photorespiratory enzymes originally acquired from cyanobacteria were lost, e.g. glycerate 3-kinase, while others were replaced by the corresponding enzymes from the α-proteobacterial endosymbiont, e.g. serine:glyoxylate aminotransferase. Generally, our analysis supports the view that many C2 cycle enzymes in eukaryotic phototrophs were obtained from the cyanobacterial endosymbiont, but during the subsequent evolution of algae and land plants multiple losses and replacements occurred, which resulted in a reticulate provenance of photorespiratory enzymes with different origins in different cellular compartments.

The variety of photorespiratory phenotypes - employing the current status for future research directions on photorespiration

Mutations of genes encoding for proteins within the photorespiratory core cycle and associated processes are characterised by lethality under normal air but viability under elevated CO2 conditions. This feature has been described as 'the photorespiratory phenotype' and assumed to be distinctly equal for all of these mutants. In recent years a broad collection of photorespiratory mutants has been isolated, which has allowed a comparative analysis. Distinct phenotypic features were observed when Arabidopsis thaliana mutants defective in photorespiratory enzymes were compared, and during shifts from elevated to ambient CO2 conditions. The exact reasons for the mutant-specific photorespiratory phenotypes are mostly unknown, but they indicate even more plasticity of photorespiratory metabolism. Moreover, a growing body of evidence was obtained that mutant features could be modulated by alterations of several factors, such as CO2 :O2 ratios, photoperiod, light intensity, organic carbon supply and pathogens. Hence, systematic analyses of the responses to these factors appear to be crucial to unravel mechanisms how photorespiration adapts and interacts with the whole cellular metabolism. Here we review current knowledge regarding photorespiratory mutants and propose a new level of phenotypic sub-classification. Finally, we present further questions that should be addressed in the field of photorespiration.