Multiple Rieske Iron Sulfur Proteins of Photosynthesis in the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis SP PCC 6803
File(s)
Date
2012-05Author
Ranade, Saurabh J.
Advisor(s)
Kallas, Toivo
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The cytochrome bf complex is essential for both photosynthetic and respiratory electron
transport in cyanobacteria. A Rieske iron-sulfur protein (ISP) is an essential subunit of
this complex. The cyanobacterium, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 carries three genes,
petC1, petC2, petC3, for different forms of Rieske ISPs. PetC1 is the major ISP. The
functions of the PetC2 and PetC3 ISPs are not well understood. My goal was to
investigate the roles of these Rieske proteins in electron transfer and redox signaling
mediated by the cytochrome bf complex. Wild type Synechocystis and a mutant strain
(PetC1) that lacks the PetC1 ISP and thus uses the PetC2 ISP in its cytochrome bf
complex were used for these studies. These strains were grown photosynthetically
followed by shifts to dark aerobic and anaerobic conditions to test the postulated role of
the PetC2 Rieske ISP in dark metabolism. Expression of the three Rieske ISP genes and
control genes (psaC, for a photosystem I subunit; zwf, for glucose-6-phosphate
dehydrogenase; and rpnB, for an RNAse P subunit) was investigated by reversetranscriptase
quantitative polymerase chain reactions (RT-qPCR). The relative abundance
of photosystem and cytochrome bf proteins in the wild type and PetC1 mutant strain
was investigated by liquid chromatography, tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).
Electron transfer reactions were investigated by light-induced, kinetics spectroscopy to
gain information about relative quantities of electron transfer protein complexes and
components in the wild type and PetC1 strains and to compare the catalytic efficiencies
of the PetC1 and PetC2 Rieske ISPs. RT-qPCR data from the wild type showed elevated
expression of petC2 relative to petC1 during dark anaerobiosis and greatly increased
petC2 expression, as might be expected, in the PetC1 mutant. Gene expression and
other data suggests that PetC3 has a function independent of the cytochrome bf complex.
Kinetics spectroscopy data suggest that the PetC1 mutant has a highly unusual
cytochrome bf complex consisting primarily of the PetC2 Rieske ISP and cytochrome b6
proteins. Surprisingly, the latter is kinetically coupled despite a very low content of the
normally essential cytochrome f protein. The kinetics data further indicate that the PetC1
and PetC2 Rieske iron-sulfur proteins have similar catalytic efficiencies. Questions
remain as to the specific roles of the PetC2 and PetC3 Rieske proteins. Overall, the
research contributes to understanding electron transfer pathways and mechanisms by
which cyanobacteria adapt to changing environments. This knowledge will be important
for engineering cyanobacterial electron transfer pathways for biofuels applications.
Subject
Photosynthesis
Cyanobacteria
Electron transfer
Iron-sulfur proteins
Permanent Link
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/62210Description
A Thesis Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Science-Biology