title: Effect of the nitrogen source on phycobiliprotein synthesis and cell reserves in a chromatically adapting filamentous cyanobacterium.
abstract: Cyanobacteria can utilize nitrate or ammonium as a source of fixed nitrogen for cell growth. In the filamentous Calothrix sp. strain PCC 7601, these two sources of nitrogen differently influenced the phycobiliprotein composition of the phycobilisomes, the major light-harvesting antennae. When compared to nitrate, growth in the presence of ammonium resulted in intracellular steady-state levels 35% lower for phycoerythrin and 46% higher for phycocyanin. Besides these differences in cell pigmentation, a rapid but transient accumulation of cyanophycin granule polypeptide occurred in ammonium-grown cells, while these macromolecules were not detected in cells grown with nitrate. In contrast, glycogen reserves displayed a dynamic pattern of accumulation and disappearance during cell growth which varied only slightly with the nitrogen source. The observed changes in cell pigmentation are reminiscent of the phenomenon of complementary chromatic adaptation, in which green and red wavelengths promote the syntheses of phycoerythrin and phycocyanin-2, respectively. As in complementary chromatic adaptation, the regulation of synthesis of phycoerythrin and phycocyanin-2 by the nitrogen source occurred mainly at the mRNA level. Moreover, the transcriptional start sites for the expression of the cpeBA and the cpc2 operons, which respectively encode the two subunits of phycoerythrin and phycocyanin-2, were the same in cells grown in nitrate or ammonium, and identical to those in green- and red-light-grown cells. The results of this study suggest that acclimation to the spectral light quality and to the nitrogen source share some common regulatory elements.
authors.affiliation: Unité de Physiologie Microbienne, Département de Biochimie et Génétique Moléculaire, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris Cédex 15, France.
authors.forename: Sylviane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liotenberg
authors.affiliation: Unité de Physiologie Microbienne, Département de Biochimie et Génétique Moléculaire, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris Cédex 15, France.
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.affiliation: Unité de Physiologie Microbienne, Département de Biochimie et Génétique Moléculaire, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris Cédex 15, France.
authors.forename: Rosmarie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rippka
authors.affiliation: Unité de Physiologie Microbienne, Département de Biochimie et Génétique Moléculaire, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris Cédex 15, France.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Houmard
authors.affiliation: Unité de Physiologie Microbienne, Département de Biochimie et Génétique Moléculaire, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris Cédex 15, France.
authors.forename: Nicole Tandeau
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: de Marsac
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003470:Culture Media; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D045524:Phycobilisomes; D010798:Phycocyanin / Q000378:metabolism; D010799:Phycoerythrin / Q000378:metabolism; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000378:metabolism*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003470:Culture Media; D045342:Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes; D045524:Phycobilisomes; D010860:Pigments, Biological; D010940:Plant Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D010798:Phycocyanin; D010799:Phycoerythrin; D009584:Nitrogen