title: Complementation of a red-light-indifferent cyanobacterial mutant.
abstract: Many cyanobacteria alter their phycobilisome composition in response to changes in light wavelength in a process termed complementary chromatic adaptation. Mutant strains FdR1 and FdR2 of the filamentous cyanobacterium Fremyella diplosiphon are characterized by aberrant chromatic adaptation. Instead of adjusting to different wavelengths of light, FdR1 and FdR2 behave as if they are always in green light; they do not respond to red light. We have previously reported complementation of FdR1 by conjugal transfer of a wild-type genomic library. The complementing DNA has now been localized by genetic analysis to a region on the rescued genomic subclone that contains a gene designated rcaC. This region of DNA is also able to complement FdR2. Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA from FdR1 and FdR2 indicates that these strains harbor DNA insertions within the rcaC sequence that may have resulted from the activity of transposable genetic elements. The predicted amino acid sequence of RcaC shares strong identity to response regulators of bacterial two-component regulatory systems. This relationship is discussed in the context of the signal-transduction pathway mediating regulation of genes encoding phycobilisome polypeptides during chromatic adaptation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Stanford, CA 94305.
authors.forename: G G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Schaefer
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Grossman
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005796:Genes; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D008027:Light; D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D045524:Phycobilisomes; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes; D045524:Phycobilisomes; D010940:Plant Proteins; C077340:RcaC protein, Fremyella diplosiphon