Alterations in photosynthetic pigments and amino acid composition of D1 protein change energy distribution in photosystem II

AbstractThe marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus marinus accumulates divinyl chlorophylls instead of monovinyl chlorophylls to harvest light energy. As well as this difference in its chromophore composition, some amino acid residues in its photosystem II D1 protein were different from the conserved amino acid residues in other photosynthetic organisms. We examined PSII complexes isolated from mutants of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, in which chromophore and D1 protein were altered (Hisashi Ito and Ayumi Tanaka, 2011) to clarify the effects of chromophores/D1 protein composition on the excitation energy distribution. We prepared the mutants accumulating divinyl chlorophyll (DV mutant). The amino acid residues of V205 and G282 in the D1 protein were substituted with M205 and C282 in the DV mutant to mimic Prochlorococcus D1 protein (DV-V205M/G282C mutant). Isolated PSII complexes were analyzed by time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Energy transfer in CP47 was interrupted in PSII containing divinyl chlorophylls. The V205M/G282C mutation did not recover the energy transfer pathway in CP47, instead, the mutation allowed the excitation energy transfer from CP43 to CP47, which neighbors in the PSII dimer. Mutual orientation of the subcomplexes of PSII might be affected by the substitution. The changes of the energy transfer pathways would reduce energy transfer from antennae to the PSII reaction center, and allow Prochlorococcus to acquire light tolerance

Structure of a tetrameric photosystem I from a glaucophyte alga Cyanophora paradoxa

Photosystem I (PSI) is one of the two photosystems functioning in light-energy harvesting, transfer, and electron transfer in photosynthesis. However, the oligomerization state of PSI is variable among photosynthetic organisms. We present a 3.8-angstrom resolution cryo-electron microscopic structure of tetrameric PSI isolated from the glaucophyte alga Cyanophora paradoxa, which reveals differences with PSI from other organisms in subunit composition and organization. The PSI tetramer is organized in a dimer of dimers with a C2 symmetry. Unlike cyanobacterial PSI tetramers, two of the four monomers are rotated around 90 degrees, resulting in a completely different pattern of monomer-monomer interactions. Excitation-energy transfer among chlorophylls differs significantly between Cyanophora and cyanobacterial PSI tetramers. These structural and spectroscopic features reveal characteristic interactions and excitation-energy transfer in the Cyanophora PSI tetramer, suggesting that the Cyanophora PSI could represent a turning point in the evolution of PSI from prokaryotes to eukaryotes

DHEA Administration Activates Local Bioactive Androgen Metabolism in Cancellous Site of Tibia of Ovariectomized Rats

It is not known whether local androgen metabolism is involved in the mechanisms underlying the dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) administration-induced improvement of bone mineral density (BMD) in an estrogen-deficiency state. The aim of the present study was to clarify whether DHEA administration would improve local androgen metabolism and BMD in cancellous site of tibia of ovariectomized (OVX) rats. Twenty-two female rats, 6 weeks old, were randomized into three groups: sham-operated rats, OVX control rats, and OVX rats that received DHEA treatment. DHEA was administered intraperitoneally at 20 mg/kg body weight for 8 weeks. The concentrations of free testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in cancellous site of tibia did not change as a result of ovariectomy, while the DHT concentration increased following DHEA administration. We revealed that DHEA administration improved the reduction of 17β- and 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases and clearly reversed the reduction of 5α-reductase types 1 and 2 and androgen receptor in the cancellous site of tibia of OVX rats. DHEA administration suppressed estrogen deficiency relative to the decrease in the cancellous BMD, which was positively associated with local DHT concentration. These findings indicate that DHEA administration enhances local bioactive androgen metabolism in the cancellous tibia of young OVX rats, suggesting that local DHT may play a part in the DHEA administration-induced improvement of cancellous BMD

Human Detection by Fourier descriptors and Fuzzy Color Histograms with Fuzzy c-means method

It is difficult to use histograms of oriented gradients (HOG) or other gradient-based features to detect persons in outdoor environments given that the background or scale undergoes considerable changes. This study involved the segmentation of depth images. Additionally, P-type Fourier descriptors were extracted as shape features from two-dimensional coordinates of a contour in the segmentation domains. With respect to the P-type Fourier descriptors, a person detector was created with the fuzzy c-means method (for general person detection). Furthermore, a fuzzy color histogram was extracted in terms of color features from the RGB values of the domain surface. With respect to the fuzzy color histogram, a detector of a person wearing specific clothes was created with the fuzzy c-means method (specific person detection). The study includes the following characteristics: 1) The general person detection requires less number of images used for learning and is robust against a change in the scale when compared to that in cases in which HOG or other methods are used. 2) The specific person detection gives results close to those obtained by human color vision when compared to the color indices such as RGB or CIEDE. This method was applied for a person search application at the Tsukuba Challenge, and the obtained results confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed method.A part of the study was financially supported by Promotion Grant for Higher Education and Resech 2014 at Kansai University under the title "Tsukuba Challenge and RoboCup @ Home."平成26年度関西大学教育研究高度化促進

Structure of a cyanobacterial photosystem I surrounded by octadecameric IsiA antenna proteins

Iron-stress induced protein A (IsiA) is a chlorophyll-binding membrane-spanning protein in photosynthetic prokaryote cyanobacteria, and is associated with photosystem I (PSI) trimer cores, but its structural and functional significance in light harvesting remains unclear. Here we report a 2.7-angstrom resolution cryo-electron microscopic structure of a supercomplex between PSI core trimer and IsiA from a thermophilic cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus vulcanus. The structure showed that 18 IsiA subunits form a closed ring surrounding a PSI trimer core. Detailed arrangement of pigments within the supercomplex, as well as molecular interactions between PSI and IsiA and among IsiAs, were resolved. Time-resolved fluorescence spectra of the PSI-IsiA supercomplex showed clear excitation-energy transfer from IsiA to PSI, strongly indicating that IsiA functions as an energy donor, but not an energy quencher, in the supercomplex. These structural and spectroscopic findings provide important insights into the excitation-energy-transfer and subunit assembly mechanisms in the PSI-IsiA supercomplex. Akita et al. present the latest approach to solve IsiA-PSI supercomplex molecular structure with increased resolution using cryo-EM and time-resolved fluorescence studies. With 2.7 angstrom resolution, they reveal molecular interactions between PSI and IsiA subunits and that IsiA functions as an energy donor in the supercomplex

Structural basis for different types of hetero-tetrameric light-harvesting complexes in a diatom PSII-FCPII supercomplex

Fucoxanthin chlorophyll (Chl) a/c-binding proteins (FCPs) function as light harvesters in diatoms. The structure of a diatom photosystem II-FCPII (PSII-FCPII) supercomplex have been solved by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) previously; however, the FCPII subunits that constitute the FCPII tetramers and monomers are not identified individually due to their low resolutions. Here, we report a 2.5 angstrom resolution structure of the PSII-FCPII supercomplex using cryo-EM. Two types of tetrameric FCPs, S-tetramer, and M-tetramer, are identified as different types of hetero-tetrameric complexes. In addition, three FCP monomers, m1, m2, and m3, are assigned to different gene products of FCP. The present structure also identifies the positions of most Chls c and diadinoxanthins, which form a complicated pigment network. Excitation-energy transfer from FCPII to PSII is revealed by time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. These structural and spectroscopic findings provide insights into an assembly model of FCPII and its excitation-energy transfer and quenching processes. Fucoxanthin chlorophyll a/c-binding proteins (FCPs) harvest light energy in diatoms. The authors analyzed a structure of PSII-FCPII supercomplex at high resolution by cryo-EM, which identified each FCP subunit and pigment network in the supercomplex

Structural basis for the absence of low-energy chlorophylls in a photosystem I trimer from Gloeobacter violaceus

Photosystem I (PSI) is a multi-subunit pigment-protein complex that functions in light-harvesting and photochemical charge-separation reactions, followed by reduction of NADP to NADPH required for CO2 fixation in photosynthetic organisms. PSI from different photosynthetic organisms has a variety of chlorophylls (Chls), some of which are at lower-energy levels than its reaction center P700, a special pair of Chls, and are called low-energy Chls. However, the sites of low-energy Chls are still under debate. Here, we solved a 2.04-& ANGS; resolution structure of a PSI trimer by cryo-electron microscopy from a primordial cyanobacterium Gloeobacter violaceus PCC 7421, which has no low-energy Chls. The structure shows the absence of some subunits commonly found in other cyanobacteria, confirming the primordial nature of this cyanobacterium. Comparison with the known structures of PSI from other cyanobacteria and eukaryotic organisms reveals that one dimeric and one trimeric Chls are lacking in the Gloeobacter PSI. The dimeric and trimeric Chls are named Low1 and Low2, respectively. Low2 is missing in some cyanobacterial and eukaryotic PSIs, whereas Low1 is absent only in Gloeobacter. These findings provide insights into not only the identity of low-energy Chls in PSI, but also the evolutionary changes of low-energy Chls in oxyphototrophs

Structural basis for the adaptation and function of chlorophyll f in photosystem I

Chlorophylls (Chl) play pivotal roles in energy capture, transfer and charge separation in photosynthesis. Among Chls functioning in oxygenic photosynthesis, Chl f is the most red-shifted type first found in a cyanobacterium Halomicronema hongdechloris. The location and function of Chl f in photosystems are not clear. Here we analyzed the high-resolution structures of photosystem I (PSI) core from H. hongdechloris grown under white or far-red light by cryo-electron microscopy. The structure showed that, far-red PSI binds 83 Chl a and 7 Chl f, and Chl f are associated at the periphery of PSI but not in the electron transfer chain. The appearance of Chl f is well correlated with the expression of PSI genes induced under far-red light. These results indicate that Chl f functions to harvest the far-red light and enhance uphill energy transfer, and changes in the gene sequences are essential for the binding of Chl f

Study on the Principle of Photosynthetic Light Energy Conversion Based on Divergence of Chlorophyll Molecules

The composition of photosystem II (PSII) in the chlorophyll (Chl) d-dominatedcyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina MBIC 11017 was investigated to enhance the generalunderstanding of the energetics of the PSII reaction center. We first purifiedphotochemically active complexes consisting of a 47 kDa chlorophyll protein (CP47), CP43’(PcbC), D1, D2, cytochrome b559, PsbI, and an unknown small polypeptide. The pigmentcomposition per two pheophytin (Phe) a molecules was 55 ± 7 Chl d, 3.0 ± 0.4 Chl a, 17 ± 3α-carotene, and 1.4 ± 0.2 plastoquinone-9. A special pair was detected by a reversibleabsorption change at 713 nm (P713) together with a cation radical band at 842 nm. FTIRdifference spectra of the specific bands of a 3-formyl group allowed assignment of the specialpair. The combined results indicate that the special pair includes a Chl d homodimer.The primary electron acceptor was shown by photoaccumulation to be Phe a, and itspotential was shifted to a higher value than that in the Chl a/Phe a system. The overallenergetics of PSII in the Chl d system adapt to changes in the redox potentials, with P713as the special pair utilizing lower light energy at 713 nm. Our findings support the ideathat changes in photosynthetic pigments combine with modification of the redox potentialsof electron transfer components to give rise to energy changes in the total reaction system.■原 著■ 2007 年度神奈川大学総合理学研究所共同研究助成論