A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Alternative electron transport mediated by flavodiiron proteins is operational in organisms from cyanobacteria up to gymnosperms




AuthorsPetr Ilik, Andrej Pavlovic, Roman Kouril, Alessandro Alboresi, Tomas Morosinotto, Yagut Allahverdiyeva, Eva-Mari Aro, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Toshiharu Shikanai

PublisherWILEY

Publication year2017

JournalNew Phytologist

Journal name in sourceNEW PHYTOLOGIST

Journal acronymNEW PHYTOL

Volume214

Issue3

First page 967

Last page972

Number of pages6

ISSN0028-646X

eISSN1469-8137

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1111/nph.14536


Abstract
Photo-reduction of O-2 to water mediated by flavodiiron proteins (FDPs) represents a safety valve for the photosynthetic electron transport chain in fluctuating light. So far, the FDP-mediated O-2 photo-reduction has been evidenced only in cyanobacteria and the moss Physcomitrella; however, a recent phylogenetic analysis of transcriptomes of photosynthetic organisms has also revealed the presence of FDP genes in several nonflowering plant groups. What remains to be clarified is whether the FDP-dependent O-2 photo-reduction is actually operational in these organisms.We have established a simple method for the monitoring of FDP-mediated O-2 photoreduction, based on the measurement of redox kinetics of P700 (the electron donor of photosystem I) upon dark-to-light transition. The O-2 photo-reduction is manifested as a fast re-oxidation of P700. The validity of the method was verified by experiments with transgenic organisms, namely FDP knock-out mutants of Synechocystis and Physcomitrella and transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing FDPs from Physcomitrella.We observed the fast P700 re-oxidation in representatives of all green plant groups excluding angiosperms.Our results provide strong evidence that the FDP-mediated O-2 photo-reduction is functional in all nonflowering green plant groups. This finding suggests a major change in the strategy of photosynthetic regulation during the evolution of angiosperms.



Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 18:24