photoactive carotenoid protein acting as light intensity sensor

Intense sunlight is dangerous for photosynthetic organisms. Cyanobacteria, like plants, protect themselves from light-induced stress by dissipating excess absorbed energy as heat. Recently, it was discovered that a soluble orange carotenoid protein, the OCP, is essential for this photoprotective mec...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2008-08, Vol.105 (33), p.12075-12080
Main Authors: Wilson, Adjélé, Punginelli, Claire, Gall, Andrew, Bonetti, Cosimo, Alexandre, Maxime, Routaboul, Jean-Marc, Kerfeld, Cheryl A, van Grondelle, Rienk, Robert, Bruno, Kennis, John T.M, Kirilovsky, Diana
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absorption spectra
Bacteria
Bacterial Proteins - chemistry
Bacterial Proteins - genetics
Bacterial Proteins - metabolism
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology
Biological Sciences
Biophysics
Carotenoids
Carotenoids - metabolism
Color
Colors
Cyanobacteria
Flowers & plants
Fluorescence
Life Sciences
Light
Light intensity
Luminous intensity
Models, Molecular
orange carotenoid protein
Photochemistry
photostability
Photosynthesis
Phycobilisome
Plants
protein conformation
Protein Structure, Tertiary
Proteins
Synechocystis - chemistry
Synechocystis - genetics
Synechocystis - metabolism
Synechocystis - radiation effects
Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803
Visible spectrum
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Intense sunlight is dangerous for photosynthetic organisms. Cyanobacteria, like plants, protect themselves from light-induced stress by dissipating excess absorbed energy as heat. Recently, it was discovered that a soluble orange carotenoid protein, the OCP, is essential for this photoprotective mechanism. Here we show that the OCP is also a member of the family of photoactive proteins; it is a unique example of a photoactive protein containing a carotenoid as the photoresponsive chromophore. Upon illumination with blue-green light, the OCP undergoes a reversible transformation from its dark stable orange form to a red "active" form. The red form is essential for the induction of the photoprotective mechanism. The illumination induces structural changes affecting both the carotenoid and the protein. Thus, the OCP is a photoactive protein that senses light intensity and triggers photoprotection.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0804636105