scholarly journals Effects of mutations at the two processing sites of the precursor for the small subunit of ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

2002 ◽  
Vol 366 (3) ◽  
pp. 989-998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cédric INVERNIZZI ◽  
Jonathan IMHOF ◽  
Gabriela BURKARD ◽  
Katharina SCHMID ◽  
Arminio BOSCHETTI

The role of the two processing sites in the precursor of the small subunit (SS) of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (pSS) of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was studied by introducing mutations at the cleavage sites for the stromal processing peptidases SPP-1 and SPP-2, which hydrolyse wild-type pSS (20.6kDa) to an intermediate-sized product iSS (18.3kDa) and to the mature SS (16.3kDa), respectively. The mutations introduced into cDNA resulted in exchange of (a) two amino acids flanking processing site 1, or (b) one or (c) both amino acids flanking processing site 2. Mutation (a) prevented pSS from being processed at site 1 but not from cleavage at site 2. Mutation (c) abolished the action of SPP-2 but not SPP-1. When pSS with mutation (c) was imported into isolated chloroplasts, iSS accumulated while SS formation was abolished. However, mature SS was produced even in the absence of iSS synthesis (mutation a). Import of pSS bearing mutation (b), which only partially inhibited processing at the SPP-2 site, slowed the rate of SS formation down whereas iSS and some slightly smaller derivatives accumulated. These experiments suggested that in Chlamydomonas processing of pSS can occur in two steps, whereby the first step is facultative. The same three mutations were studied in vivo after transformation of SS-deficient C. reinhardtii T60-3 with mutated genomic DNA. Growth and photosynthesis was as in control transformants, except for the slower-growing transformants (mutation c) where no mature SS was immuno-detected. However, pSS fragments with molecular masses between those of iSS and SS were present even in the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase holoenzyme.

1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 4011-4019
Author(s):  
J A Nelson ◽  
P B Savereide ◽  
P A Lefebvre

We have cloned and sequenced the CRY1 gene, encoding ribosomal protein S14 in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and found that it is highly similar to S14/rp59 proteins from other organisms, including mammals, Drosophila melanogaster, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We isolated a mutant strain resistant to the eukaryotic translational inhibitors cryptopleurine and emetine in which the resistance was due to a missense mutation (CRY1-1) in the CRY1 gene; resistance was dominant in heterozygous stable diploids. Cotransformation experiments using the CRY1-1 gene and the gene for nitrate reductase (NIT1) produced a low level of resistance to cryptopleurine and emetine. Resistance levels were increased when the CRY1-1 gene was placed under the control of a constitutive promoter from the ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase small subunit 2 (RBCS2) gene. We also found that the 5' untranslated region of the CRY1 gene was required for expression of the CRY1-1 transgene. Direct selection of emetine-resistant transformants was possible when transformed cells were first induced to differentiate into gametes by nitrogen starvation and then allowed to dedifferentiate back to vegetative cells before emetine selection was applied. With this transformation protocol, the RBCS2/CRY1-1 dominant selectable marker gene is a powerful tool for many molecular genetic applications in C. reinhardtii.


1983 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 395 ◽  
Author(s):  
PG Martin ◽  
AC Jennings

Ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase has been prepared from 50 species of angiosperms from 16 diverse families. In 35 preparations, well known 'bland leaf' methods were used but 15 species had 'pungent leaves' and for these a new preparative method is described. Automatic methods have been used to obtain N-terminal sequences (40 amino acids) of the small subunit (SSU) from all 50 species and the pattern of variability is discussed: 26 of 40 positions are variable to a degree similar to that found in plastocyanin and plant cytochrome c, i.e, an average of 3.7 different amino acids per variable site. These results, and the fact that sufficient protein can be obtained from 100 g of leaves, make a widespread phylogenetic survey of angiosperm SSU feasible and it is claimed that the method is at least as practicable as nucleic acid sequencing. A limited amount of sequencing has been carried out on the large subunit (LSU) but its low variability discourages a protein sequencing survey. Implications for gene structure and function are discussed and evidence is given that active LSU is derived from a precursor with 14 additional amino acids at the N-terminus. In SSU, variability of the two N- terminal amino acids suggests that they are not involved in the signals for removal of either the transit peptide or, in the RNA, of the intron, excision of one end of which depends on the codons for the invariable amino acids at positions 3 and 4. Evidence is also given that if the N-terminus of SSU is methionine, as is common, then it is modified and associated with a 'frayed' N-terminus.


1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 4011-4019 ◽  
Author(s):  
J A Nelson ◽  
P B Savereide ◽  
P A Lefebvre

We have cloned and sequenced the CRY1 gene, encoding ribosomal protein S14 in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and found that it is highly similar to S14/rp59 proteins from other organisms, including mammals, Drosophila melanogaster, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We isolated a mutant strain resistant to the eukaryotic translational inhibitors cryptopleurine and emetine in which the resistance was due to a missense mutation (CRY1-1) in the CRY1 gene; resistance was dominant in heterozygous stable diploids. Cotransformation experiments using the CRY1-1 gene and the gene for nitrate reductase (NIT1) produced a low level of resistance to cryptopleurine and emetine. Resistance levels were increased when the CRY1-1 gene was placed under the control of a constitutive promoter from the ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase small subunit 2 (RBCS2) gene. We also found that the 5' untranslated region of the CRY1 gene was required for expression of the CRY1-1 transgene. Direct selection of emetine-resistant transformants was possible when transformed cells were first induced to differentiate into gametes by nitrogen starvation and then allowed to dedifferentiate back to vegetative cells before emetine selection was applied. With this transformation protocol, the RBCS2/CRY1-1 dominant selectable marker gene is a powerful tool for many molecular genetic applications in C. reinhardtii.


1984 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 283 ◽  
Author(s):  
PG Martin ◽  
JM Dowd

The N-terminal sequences (40 amino acids) are given for the small subunit (SSU) of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase from three species of Ranunculaceae and three species of Malvaceae. Methods are given for integrating these into a previously published phylogenetic tree for eight families. The two new familial nodes that have been derived group closely with each other and with equivalent nodes of Asteraceae and Caprifoliaceae. There appears to be considerably more variation in Ranunculaceae than in Malvaceae and possible reasons for this are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wojciech Wietrzynski ◽  
Eleonora Traverso ◽  
Francis-André Wollman ◽  
Katia Wostrikoff

AbstractRibulose 1,5-bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase (Rubisco) is a key enzyme for photosynthesis-driven life on Earth. While present in all photosynthetic organisms, its most prominent form is a hetero-oligomer in which a Small Subunit (SSU) stabilizes the core of the enzyme built from Large Subunits (LSU), yielding, after a chaperone-assisted multistep assembly, a LSU8SSU8 hexadecameric holoenzyme. Here we use Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and a combination of site-directed mutants, to dissect the multistep biogenesis pathway of Rubisco in vivo. We identify assembly intermediates, in two of which LSU is associated with the RAF1 chaperone. Using genetic and biochemical approaches we further unravel a major regulation process during Rubisco biogenesis which places translation of its large subunit under the control of its ability to assemble with the small subunit, by a mechanism of Control by Epistasy of Synthesis (CES). Altogether this leads us to propose a model where the last assembly intermediate, an octameric LSU8-RAF1 complex which delivers LSU to SSU to form the Rubisco enzyme, converts to a key regulator form able to exert a negative feed-back on the initiation of translation of LSU, when SSU is not available.


1986 ◽  
Vol 240 (3) ◽  
pp. 709-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Anderson ◽  
S M Smith

DNA sequences encoding ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase small subunit precursor from Pisum sativum L. have been transcribed from plasmids containing the SP6 promoter, and translated in a wheat germ cell-free system. The small subunit precursor polypeptide, its N-terminal leader sequence (transit peptide) and the mature small subunit have each been synthesized independently from three different plasmid constructs. The precursor polypeptide is imported into isolated pea chloroplasts and processed to the mature small subunit by a stromal proteinase. The mature polypeptide is neither imported, nor subject to proteolysis by stromal extracts. The transit peptide alone is very rapidly degraded by a stromal proteinase activity which can be inhibited by EDTA or 1,10-phenanthroline. The use of these gene constructs helps to establish the crucial role of the transit peptide in protein import into the chloroplast.


Genetics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 159 (2) ◽  
pp. 787-797
Author(s):  
Lizzie Cribb ◽  
Lisa N Hall ◽  
Jane A Langdale

Abstract Maize leaf blades differentiate dimorphic photosynthetic cell types, the bundle sheath and mesophyll, between which the reactions of C4 photosynthesis are partitioned. Leaf-like organs of maize such as husk leaves, however, develop a C3 pattern of differentiation whereby ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBPCase) accumulates in all photosynthetic cell types. The Golden2 (G2) gene has previously been shown to play a role in bundle sheath cell differentiation in C4 leaf blades and to play a less well-defined role in C3 maize tissues. To further analyze G2 gene function in maize, four g2 mutations have been characterized. Three of these mutations were induced by the transposable element Spm. In g2-bsd1-m1 and g2-bsd1-s1, the element is inserted in the second intron and in g2-pg14 the element is inserted in the promoter. In the fourth case, g2-R, four amino acid changes and premature polyadenylation of the G2 transcript are observed. The phenotypes conditioned by these four mutations demonstrate that the primary role of G2 in C4 leaf blades is to promote bundle sheath cell chloroplast development. C4 photosynthetic enzymes can accumulate in both bundle sheath and mesophyll cells in the absence of G2. In C3 tissue, however, G2 influences both chloroplast differentiation and photosynthetic enzyme accumulation patterns. On the basis of the phenotypic data obtained, a model that postulates how G2 acts to facilitate C4 and C3 patterns of tissue development is proposed.


1972 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Shephard ◽  
Wendy B. Levin

The ability of chloroplasts isolated from Acetabulana mediterranea to synthesize the protein amino acids has been investigated. When this chloroplast isolate was presented with 14CO2 for periods of 6–8 hr, tracer was found in essentially all amino acid species of their hydrolyzed protein Phenylalanine labeling was not detected, probably due to technical problems, and hydroxyproline labeling was not tested for The incorporation of 14CO2 into the amino acids is driven by light and, as indicated by the amount of radioactivity lost during ninhydrin decarboxylation on the chromatograms, the amino acids appear to be uniformly labeled. The amino acid labeling pattern of the isolate is similar to that found in plastids labeled with 14CO2 in vivo. The chloroplast isolate did not utilize detectable amounts of externally supplied amino acids in light or, with added adenosine triphosphate (ATP), in darkness. It is concluded that these chloroplasts are a tight cytoplasmic compartment that is independent in supplying the amino acids used for its own protein synthesis. These results are discussed in terms of the role of contaminants in the observed synthesis, the "normalcy" of Acetabularia chloroplasts, the synthetic pathways for amino acids in plastids, and the implications of these observations for cell compartmentation and chloroplast autonomy.


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