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Journal of Bacteriology, June 2004, p . 3882-3888, Vol . 186,
No . 12
Control
of Photosynthetic and High-Light-Responsive Genes by the Histidine Kinase DspA:
Negative and Positive Regulation and Interactions between Signal Transduction
Pathways
Hui-Yi Hsiao,1 Qingfang He,1*
Lorraine G . van Waasbergen,2 and Arthur R . Grossman3
Department of Applied Science, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little
Rock, Arkansas 72204,1 Department of Biology, University of Texas at
Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019,2 Department of Plant Biology, The
Carnegie Institution of Washington, Stanford, California 943053
Received 16 July 2003/ Accepted 6 February 2004
We have deleted a gene for a sensor histidine kinase, dspA (or
hik33), in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp . strain PCC6803 .
In low and moderate light, the mutant grew slowly under photoautotrophic
conditions, with a doubling time of
40
h, and had severely reduced photosynthetic oxygen evolution . When the
mutant was maintained in low or moderate light in the presence of
glucose, its growth rate was only somewhat lower than that of
wild-type cells . However, the mutant was light sensitive and rapidly
died in high light . Furthermore, levels of many transcripts encoding
genes associated with photosynthesis were altered in the mutant
relative to wild-type Synechocystis sp . strain PCC6803 both in
low light and following exposure to high light . There was
constitutive expression of several high-light-inducible genes,
including hli, psbAIII, and gpx2; there was
little increased accumulation of sodB mRNA in high light; and
the cells failed to accumulate cpcBA and psaAB mRNAs in
low light in the presence of glucose, although a normal decline in
the levels of these mRNAs was observed during exposure to high light .
These results suggest that DspA is involved in controlling sets of
photosynthetic and high-light-responsive genes, either directly or
indirectly . These and other results, some of which are presented in a
companion paper (C.-J . Tu, J . Shrager, R . Burnap, B . L . Postier, and
A . R . Grossman, J . Bacteriol . 186:3889-3902, 2004), suggest that DspA
acts as a global regulator that helps coordinate cellular metabolism
with growth limitations imposed by environmental conditions .
Photosynthetic organisms adjust their photosynthetic activity to
balance the absorption of light energy with the energy and growth
requirements of the cell . This coordination reduces the accumulation
of potentially damaging reactive oxygen species that may result from
the excitation of pigment molecules; reactive oxygen species may
interact with proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids, ultimately causing
a loss of cell viability, but they may also have a signaling role (3,
10, 20, 21,
25) .
Both microalgae and vascular plants have evolved mechanisms for
photoacclimation that enable them to tolerate the absorption of
excess excitation energy (10, 24,
25, 31, 32) .
Acclimation mechanisms include, but are not limited to, changes in
the composition of light-harvesting and/or reaction center
pigment-protein complexes (4, 6,
7, 38), dissipation of excess absorbed
excitation energy as heat, and synthesis of enzymes with antioxidant
function, such as superoxide dismutase (26,
35), catalase (27, 29,
42), and peroxidases (11,
16, 40) . Efficient degradation and repair
of photodamaged polypeptides also occur when photosynthetic
organisms are exposed to high light (HL) . The D1 polypeptide of
photosystem II (PS II), encoded by members of the psbA gene
family, carries the reaction center P680 chlorophyll molecules . This
protein represents the primary site of photodamage during
photoinhibition (2, 18), and its turnover
rate increases in HL . In Synechocystis sp . strain PCC6803,
there are two active psbA genes, termed psbAII and
psbAIII . The psbAII mRNA predominates in low light (LL),
but there is a dramatic increase in the level of psbAIII mRNA
and a slight increase in psbAII mRNA when Synechocystis
sp . strain PCC6803 is exposed to HL (8) .
Other cyanobacterial genes have been shown to be sensitive to
light conditions and important for acclimation of cells to HL . The
HliA protein of Synechococcus sp . strain PCC7942 is a small
thylakoid membrane-associated polypeptide (72 amino acids) with
sequence similarity to members of the chlorophyll a/b-binding
family of proteins (9; N . A . Dolganov, Q . He, and A . R .
Grossman, unpublished data) . There are four hli genes present
on the Synechocystis sp . strain PCC6803 genome, with a fifth
sequence fused to the ferrochelatase gene (12,
15) . The levels of Hli polypeptides increase in
response to HL, low temperature, and nutrient limitation and are
necessary for the survival of cells in HL . Strains unable to
synthesize specific Hli polypeptides could not cope with HL as
effectively as wild-type cells, and a mutant in which all four of the
hli genes were deleted rapidly dies in HL (15) .
The Hli polypeptides may enable cyanobacterial cells to cope
with excess absorbed excitation energy, possibly by promoting its
dissipation as heat (14), or they may be important in
controlling tetrapyrrole biosynthesis (and perhaps binding
intermediates in this pathway) (39) .
In photosynthetic microbes, acclimation responses are generally
mediated by signaling systems comprised of transmembrane sensory
kinases that sense extra- or intracellular cues and transmit the
information to response regulators that may directly control the
transcriptional activity of specific sets of genes . Recently, a
sensory histidine kinase termed NblS, identified in Synechococcus
sp . strain PCC7942, was shown to be critical for both acclimation
to HL and nutrient limitation . This sensory kinase controls
HL-regulated and blue or UV-A light-regulated expression from a
number of genes whose polypeptide products are involved in
photosynthetic function . NblS appears to influence light-dependent
modulation of hliA gene expression, HL regulation of the psbA
genes, and the biosynthesis and degradation of light-harvesting
phycobilisome polypeptides . The deduced polypeptide sequence of NblS
revealed the presence of a PAS domain that may bind a flavin (37) .
The association of NblS with a pigmented electron carrier (the
flavin) may allow for direct monitoring of both light and
intracellular redox conditions .
NblS of Synechococcus sp . strain PCC7942 has strong sequence
similarity to DspA (also called Hik33) of Synechocystis sp .
strain PCC 6803 (5, 34) . Studies of
the nonhomoplasmic hik33 mutant showed that this polypeptide
is involved in sensing and controlling gene expression in response to
low-temperature conditions (33) . Low-temperature
treatment reduces the anabolic activity of cells, resulting in the
absorption of excess excitation energy and elevated cellular redox,
even under moderate light conditions . Recent studies suggest that
Hik33 also controls the expression of osmostress-regulated genes (19) .
These findings add support to the hypothesized role of NblS as a
global regulator that integrates redox and light signals and suggest
that this regulatory polypeptide may influence other signaling
pathways involved in acclimation responses (37) .
Recently, under heterotrophic growth conditions, we have been able
to obtain a homoplasmic strain disrupted for dspA or hik33 .
The data in this report suggest that DspA acts as a global regulator
that helps coordinate cellular metabolism with growth limitations
imposed by environmental conditions . Additional support for a
global regulatory role for NblS/DspA/Hik33 comes from microarray
analyses (36), which demonstrate pronounced changes in the
levels of numerous transcripts in the dspA mutant, even under
LL conditions .
Culture conditions. Synechocystis sp . strain PCC6803 was
cultivated in BG-11 medium (1) buffered with 10 mM
TES [N-tris(hydroxymethyl)methyl-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid],
pH 8.2, at 30°C . The cultures were bubbled with 3% CO2 in
air under both LL (40 µmol of photon m–2 s–1) and HL (500
µmol of photon m–2 s–1) conditions . For HL
treatments, cells grown to mid-logarithmic growth phase (optical
density at 730 nm [OD730] of
0.8)
were diluted with fresh medium to an OD730 of
0.3,
and then the cultures ( 35
ml in 50-ml culture tubes) were placed in a temperature-controlled
glass chamber (maintained at 30°C) and exposed to HL (incandescent
bulbs) for various lengths of time, as indicated in the text .
DNA manipulation and mutant construction. To inactivate the
dspA (hik33) gene sll0698 in CyanoBase (34),
the entire coding region was amplified by PCR to yield a fragment
of 1992 bp . The two primers used for the amplification were
5'-gc(TT)ATGc(G)GGACTTCTGTGTCCAATCCA-3' and
5'-gg(CT)At(G)CCCACCACCATCAACATGGATTG-3' . Lowercase letters indicate
mutations introduced into the sequence, with the original nucleotides
given in parentheses to the left of those nucleotides that were
modified . The PCR product was cloned into pGEM-T vector (TA
ligation), and a 0.85-kbp DNA fragment with the cat gene
(chloramphenicol acetyltransferase), under the control of the
Synechocystis sp . strain PCC6803 psbAII promoter, was
exchanged with a 29-bp fragment (335 to 364 bp downstream of the
dspA start codon, from a BglII site to an XmnI site) of the
dspA gene, generating the plasmid pDsp-cat . The direction of
transcription of the cat gene was opposite of that of dspA .
The plasmid was partially sequenced to determine the relative
orientation of the dspA and cat genes and to ensure
that no modifications in the nucleotide sequence occurred during
cloning .
The pDsp-cat plasmid was used to transform Synechocystis sp .
strain PCC6803, and transformants were selected by screening
for resistance to 20 µg of chloramphenicol/ml in BG-11 medium
supplemented with 10 mM glucose . Transformants were restreaked into
the same medium, and segregation of the inactivated dspA gene
was monitored by PCR using genomic DNA of transformants used as the
template and primers that recognize sequences upstream or downstream
of the inserted cat gene . The homoplasmic mutant obtained was
designated dspA-cat .
To test complementation of the Synechocystis sp . strain PCC6803
dspA-cat mutant with the nblS gene from Synechococcus
sp . strain PCC7942, the cat cartridge of the plasmid pDsp-cat
was replaced by the nblS gene (under the control of its own
promoter) linked to a kanamycin resistance cassette, generating a
plasmid that we designated pNblSrDspA . The nblS gene was in
the same reading direction as that of dspA . pNblSrDspA was
transformed into the dspA-cat mutant, and transformants were
repeatedly streaked onto BG-11 medium containing 25 µg of
kanamycin/ml until the chloramphenicol resistance phenotype was lost .
In the new strain (nblS+ dspA mutant), the nblS
gene was nested within the dspA gene (Fig . 1) .
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FIG . 1 . Disruption of the dspA gene . (A) PCR analysis of the
dspA gene in potential mutants in which the dspA gene was
insertionally inactivated with the cat gene . WT, wild type; M,
DNA size marker . (B and C) Depiction of the constructs used to generate
the dspA-cat strain (B) and the nblS+ dspA
mutant strain (C) . To generate the dspA-cat disruption, an
internal 29-bp dspA fragment from the dspA gene (from Sp
to Bm; shaded area) was deleted and replaced by a 0.85-kbp
chloramphenicol resistance cartridge (Cat); in panel C, the cat
gene shown in panel B was replaced by a 2.2-kb nblS gene linked
with a 1.2-kb kanamycin resistance cartridge (Kan); the nblS and
kanr genes are transcribed in opposite directions . In
panel A, both the intact dspA ( 2.0
kbp) and the dspA-cat ( 2.8
kbp) loci were efficiently amplified from genomic DNA preparations by
PCR . A total of 5 chloramphenicol-resistant transformants were isolated
(lanes 1 to 5) and analyzed for a disruption of the dspA gene;
transformants 3 and 4 showed no detectable wild-type dspA PCR
product, and transformant 4 was used in all subsequent analyses . Sp,
SphI; Bg, BglII; Bm, BamHI; Xm, XmnI; Sm, SmaI; Pt, PstI.
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For PCR analysis, Synechocystis sp . strain PCC6803 genomic DNA
was prepared by a mini preparation procedure . Briefly, a loopful of
cyanobacterial cells was suspended in 200 µl of Tris-EDTA buffer (pH
8.0) and transferred to a microcentrifuge tube with 200 µl of glass
beads (0.1-mm diameter; Sigma) . The cells were broken in a MiniBead
Beater (Biospec Products, Bartlesville, Okla.) by two cycles of
agitation at the low speed setting for 30 s; between each cycle, the
cells were cooled on ice for 2 to 3 min . Lysates were extracted with
phenol-chloroform, and the DNA was precipitated, washed, and dried
according to standard procedures (28) . The dry DNA
pellet was dissolved in 40 µl of H2O, of which 1 µl was
used for each PCR .
Photosynthetic O2 evolution. O2
exchange in cell suspensions was measured at 30°C with a Clark-type O2
electrode (Hansatech DW2/2) . Cells were illuminated with white light
produced by a Schott KL1500 lamp equipped with a flexible light
guide . The intensity of illumination was adjusted with combinations
of neutral density filters . Cell viability was monitored by using the
vital stain TO-PRO-1 iodine (see the legend to Fig . 2) .
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FIG . 2 . Light sensitivity of the dspA mutant . (A) Cells were
grown in BG-11 medium with 10 mM glucose in LL to an OD730 of
0.3
(day 0) before the cultures were transferred and incubated in HL (days 1
to 3) . Cell viability was determined by staining with TO-PRO-1 iodine, a
nonpermeable fluorescence dye that stains nucleic acid (only in dead
cells) . Curves were generated by averaging the data obtained from three
representative experiments . (B) Light-response curves of photosynthetic
O2 evolution in wild-type Synechocystis sp . strain
PCC6803 (WT) and dspA-cat mutant (dspA) . Cells were grown in LL
in the presence of 10 mM glucose to an OD730 of
0.6 .
Cultures were concentrated to a OD730 of 0.9 for O2
evolution measurements under various actinic light intensities.
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RNA isolation and Northern hybridizations. RNA was isolated
from cells as previously described (22) . For RNA
blot hybridizations, equal amounts of RNA (determined spectroscopically)
were resolved by electrophoresis in formaldehyde gels; ethidium
bromide was included in the loading buffer, allowing for visualization
of the rRNA bands and confirmation of equal loading of RNA samples .
The DNA probes used for hybridization were prepared by PCR in a
15-µl reaction mixture containing PCR buffer, 2 U of Taq DNA
polymerase (Roche, Palo Alto, Calif.), 0.1 µg each of the two PCR
primers, 30 µCi of [32P]dCTP (3,000 Ci/mmol, 10 µCi/µl;
NEN-DuPont, Boston, Mass.), and
10
ng of gene-specific PCR products as a template . The gene-specific PCR
products were originally generated from plasmid clones or from
genomic DNA by two cycles of PCR . In the first cycle, a larger
fragment was amplified, which was purified from agarose gels and used
as the template for a second PCR to generate gene-specific probes .
The second PCR cycle employed either one or two new internal primers,
and the product was purified from agarose gels . The different probes
generated and primers used for amplification of these probes are
given in Table 1 .
| TABLE 1 . Sequences of primers used for generating gene-specific probesa
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Impacts on cell viability and photosynthetic function. To
investigate the functions of DspA, we inactivated the dspA
gene in Synechocystis sp . strain PCC6803 (see Materials and
Methods) . The construct (pDsp-cat) used to generate the dspA-disrupted
strain is shown in Fig . 1B . A homoplasmic mutant was
obtained, as evaluated by PCR analysis (Fig . 1A,
lanes 3 to 5) . The growth of the dspA mutant under
photoautotrophic and photomixotrophic conditions was monitored in LL
and HL (data not shown) . The dspA mutant grew very slowly,
with a doubling time of
40
h under photoautotrophic growth conditions (in contrast to
8
h for wild-type cells); however, it grew well, although not as well
as wild-type cells, in medium supplemented with glucose; the doubling
time of wild-type cells under our photomixotrophic growth conditions
was 6 h, while that of the mutant was 8 h . In contrast, when
the dspA mutant was placed in HL for more than 1 day in either
the presence (Fig . 2A) or absence (data not shown) of glucose,
it stopped dividing and lost viability, as measured by both the
replating of cells onto solid BG-11 medium with 10 mM glucose
(unpublished data) and cell viability assays with vital stains (Fig.
2A); by 48 h in HL, nearly all of the cells were dead .
These results demonstrated that glucose cannot sustain the dspA
mutant in HL and that photodamage in HL resulted in a loss of
cell viability . The cells also died much more rapidly than wild-type
cells following exposure to nutrient deprivation (unpublished data) .
Photosynthetic O2 evolution in the wild-type and mutant strains
was measured as a function of light intensity (Fig . 2B) .
For wild-type cells, O2 evolution saturated at
250
µmol of photon m–2 s–1 with a peak activity of
250
µmol of O2/mg of chlorophyll/h . In contrast, the
photosynthetic efficiency in LL was reduced in the mutant relative to
the wild-type strain, and the maximum rate of O2 evolution
attained by the mutant was 50 µmol of O2/mg of
chlorophyll/h . These results demonstrate that the dspA lesion
caused a marked decline in photosynthetic performance and explain why
a homoplasmic strain disrupted for dspA was difficult to
obtain under photoautotrophic growth conditions, even using
antibiotic selection (34) . In our study, complete
segregation was made possible by the supplementation of the
antibiotic-containing growth medium with 10 mM glucose .
Analyses of transcripts for photosynthetic and stress-responsive
genes. The growth data and measurements of O2 evolution
demonstrated that the dspA mutant was severely compromised in
photosynthetic function and was unable to acclimate to HL conditions .
To further characterize responses of the mutant to HL, we measured
levels of transcripts from the various genes involved in
photosynthesis and in the amelioration of oxidative stress . Total RNA
from cells grown in LL or 30 min following the transfer of cells
to HL was hybridized to specific fragments of genes encoding
polypeptides of the photosynthetic apparatus or associated with
oxidative stress responses . As shown in Fig . 3 (columns 1 and
2), in wild-type cells, the transcripts for all four of the
hli genes and for one of the two gpx genes (encoding glutathione
peroxidase) accumulated to high levels following the transfer
of cells to HL . Furthermore, total psbA mRNA increased by more
than threefold following 30 min of HL treatment, consistent with
results previously reported (13) . The transcript for the
sodB gene, encoding superoxide dismutase, increased by two-
to threefold following HL treatment, with the generation of a
high-molecular- mass transcript (the ends of these transcripts have
not been characterized) . In contrast, levels of cpcBA and
psaAB transcripts declined, in agreement with the observations of
Muramatsu and Hihara (23) .
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FIG . 3 . RNA blot hybridizations with specific probes for genes involved
in photosynthesis and stress responses . Total RNA was isolated from
cells grown in LL (L) or exposed to HL (H) for 30 min . The RNA was
resolved by denaturing electrophoresis on 1.3% agarose gels, transferred
to nylon membranes, and hybridized with the labeled probes indicated .
The three psbA genes were not distinguished in these analyses .
The sodB gene fragment consistently hybridized to two transcripts
(bands), the lower band having the size predicted from the CyanoBase
gene sequence . The upper band may have a different transcription start
site or represent a read-through product, but this possibility was not
investigated . The psaAB probe hybridized to two transcripts as
previously reported (30) . The cpcBA fragment
also hybridized to two transcripts; the signal from the 1.4-kb
transcript represents the full-length transcript of cpcBA . The
size of each transcript is indicated . gpx2 (slr1992),
glutathione peroxidase; –Glc, without glucose in the growth medium;
+Glc, with 10 mM glucose in the growth medium; WT, wild-type cells.
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In the dspA mutant, as in wild-type cells, transcripts from
hli, psbA, and gpx2 genes accumulated to high levels
following 30 min of HL treatment . However, levels of these mRNAs were
already relatively high under LL conditions . In addition, the
sodB transcript in the mutant strain no longer accumulated to
very high levels in HL, while the HL-induced decline of cpcBA
and psaAB transcripts was similar to that observed for wild-type
cells .
Interestingly, wild-type cells grown for 1 to 2 days in LL in
medium supplemented with 10 mM glucose showed a marked accumulation
of cpcBA and psaAB transcripts; this elevated accumulation was
not observed in the dspA mutant . The transcript levels of other
genes shown in Fig . 3 were not strongly affected by the
addition of glucose to the growth medium .
Complementation of the dspA mutant with the nblS gene
from Synechococcus sp . strain PCC7942. Expression of hli
genes in the dspA mutant (as shown in Fig . 3)
was different from that observed in the nblS1-1 mutant of
Synechococcus sp . strain PCC7942, although it should be remembered
that the latter strain contains two point mutations in nblS,
and we were never able to generate a null mutation . To investigate
whether DspA is functionally related to NblS, the full-length
nblS gene of Synechococcus sp . strain PCC7942 was transformed
into the dspA mutant of Synechocystis sp . strain PCC6803
(see Materials and Methods for details); in this strain, the nblS
gene was nested within the dspA gene containing an internal
deletion of 29 bp (Fig . 1C) . As shown in Fig.
4, the nblS-harboring transformant regained
the ability to suppress accumulation of hli transcripts under
LL conditions (just like wild-type cells), although the levels of
mRNA accumulation in HL appeared to be slightly lower than those
observed for wild-type cells . Furthermore, the rescued mutant
survived HL conditions and grew at a rate similar to that of
wild-type cells in both LL and HL (data not shown) . These results
strongly suggest that DspA and NblS are functional orthologs .
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FIG . 4 . Expression of hli genes in the dspA-cat mutant
complemented with the nblS gene (nblS/dspA) . Total RNA was
isolated from cells grown in LL (L) or exposed to HL (H) for 30 min . The
RNA was hybridized with the fragments from the four hli genes, as
indicated . WT, wild type.
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Stability of transcripts. Since the absolute levels of specific
transcripts are governed by a combination of the rates of
transcription and transcript degradation, we investigated whether
mRNA stability contributed to differential accumulation of
transcripts observed in the dspA mutant under LL and HL
conditions . LL-grown cells were exposed to HL for 30 min before
rifampin (150 µg/ml) was added to cultures to block transcription .
Cultures were then divided and incubated in either LL or HL for an
additional 60 min . Aliquots were removed at various time points
following the administration of rifampin, and RNA levels were
monitored by RNA blot hybridizations . As shown in Fig .
5, a disruption of the dspA gene did not strongly
influence the rate of transcript degradation under LL or HL
conditions . The hliA messages appeared to be slightly more
stable in the dspA mutant than in wild-type cells, but the
differences were not very large . Furthermore, glucose did not
significantly influence the stability of any of the transcripts
examined (data not shown) . The half-lives of the transcripts deduced
from Fig . 5, under both LL and HL conditions, are
presented in parentheses in the figure .
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FIG . 5 . Transcript stability in wild-type cells (WT) and the dspA-cat
mutant (dspA) . The cells were exposed to HL for 30 min followed
by the addition of 150 µg of rifampin/ml (transcription inhibitor)
immediately after placing half of the culture in LL and the other half
in HL; the addition of rifampin occurred at time zero . Aliquots of the
cultures were withdrawn at the times indicated at the top of the figure,
and the mRNA levels were determined by RNA blot hybridizations . The
number pairs in the parentheses indicate the estimated mRNA half-life of
each gene under LL (numbers at left within each set of parentheses) and
HL (numbers at right within each set of parentheses) in the dspA-cat
mutant (parentheses at the left side of the figure) and in the wild type
(parentheses in the center of the figure) . To estimate the mRNA
half-life of a messenger, the intensities of the specific hybridization
signals on the autoradiograms were measured by densitometry, and the
half-life of each transcript was calculated . The half-lives of the
cpcBA and psaAB transcripts were determined from the loss of
full-length transcripts following the addition of rifampin, while the
half-life of sodB was estimated from the loss of the transcript,
represented by the lower hybridization signal (which is the expected
size of the transcript based on the gene sequences; the upper transcript
might be a consequence of a second transcription initiation or
termination site).
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Our results demonstrate that the loss of DspA function strongly
impacts photosynthetic performance and survival of the cells in HL .
This finding may be a consequence of aberrant assembly of the
photosynthetic apparatus in the mutant strain, which leads to
increased photodamage and the production of reactive oxygen species,
especially under HL conditions . Furthermore, there was a high level
of accumulation of the hli, psbA, and gpx2
transcripts in the dspA mutant but not in wild-type cells
grown in LL, regardless of glucose supplementation . Constitutive
expression of hli, psbA, and gpx2 genes suggests that these
genes are repressed by DspA activity in LL and that HL activation
involves removing the repression imposed by DspA (either by
direct or indirect effects on gene activity) . While this is the first
report that suggests that the HL activation of bacterial genes may
involve, at least in part, derepression, negative regulation of
stress-responsive genes has been reported for both prokaryotic and
eukaryotic systems . For example, the catalase gene (katG) of
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is negatively regulated by the
global ferric uptake regulator FurA (41), and ethylene
responses in vascular plants are negatively regulated by a family
of receptors encoded by ETR genes (17) .
Interestingly, in the dspA mutant, the hli transcripts still
accumulated to a significantly higher level in HL than in LL
(Fig . 3) . This enhanced accumulation may be due to
differential mRNA stability, as the hli transcripts are
slightly more stable in HL than in LL, regardless of whether or not
dspA is functional (Fig . 5) . However, it is
also possible that the hli genes are subject to a positive
regulation in addition to the negative control imposed by DspA . The
convergence of a potential negative and a positive regulation in
controlling hli genes resembles what has been observed in the
regulation of the katG gene in M . tuberculosis (41) .
Furthermore, in contrast to the negative regulation of the hli
and psbA genes by DspA, sodB expression appears to be
positively regulated by DspA . These results demonstrate that DspA has
both a positive and a negative impact on the accumulation of
different transcripts .
Another interesting finding of this study is that the transcript
levels of cpcBA and psaAB dramatically increase if glucose is
added to the growth medium of wild-type cells growing in LL and
that this effect is dependent on DspA . The increase was sustained for
1 to 2 days after adding glucose to the medium and resulted in a
25%
increase in the corresponding polypeptides (data not shown) over the
time period . These findings suggest an interaction (either direct or
indirect) between the sugar and DspA signaling pathways .
In sum, the results presented in this paper demonstrate that DspA
profoundly influences the growth characteristics and photosynthetic
capacity of Synechocystis sp . strain PCC6803, that it is required
for survival of cyanobacterial cells in HL, and that it appears
to be functionally equivalent to NblS of Synechococcus sp . strain
PCC7942 (which is critical for the acclimation of cells to both
HL and nutrient limitation conditions) . The results also suggest that
DspA or NblS polypeptides may elicit both negative and positive
regulatory responses under a variety of conditions and that they may
also influence glucose signaling and, potentially, the integration of
respiratory and photosynthetic function . Combined with previous
results (34, 37), the data reported here
suggest that DspA or NblS plays a central role in integrating
cellular metabolism with environmental cues (and the potential for
cell growth) . While a direct regulatory relationship between DspA and
potential target genes cannot be clearly established, the inability
of the nblS1-1 allele to derepress (or activate) hli
or psbA genes suggests a primary role for DspA in controlling
the expression of at least some of the HL-activated genes . The
precise environmental cues that NblS or DspA senses are not clear;
however, it is likely that these polypeptides are able to perceive
light, redox, and/or reactive oxygen species and that their signaling
outputs are integrated into a regulatory web that controls the
activities of numerous cyanobacterial genes (36) .
We thank D . Bhaya, J . Christie, C.-J . Tu, G . Thompson, and W . Briggs
for their helpful suggestions during the course of this work . We
specially thank G . Thompson for generously making the resources in
his laboratory available to us .
This work was supported by NSF grant MCB9727836 and USDA 98-35301
awarded to A.R.G . and by startup funds provided by the University of
Arkansas at Little Rock to Q.H .
* Corresponding author . Mailing address: Department of Applied
Science, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR 72204 . Phone:
(501) 569-8033 . Fax: (501) 569-8020 . E-mail:
qfhe@ualr.edu .
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