Cloning and Light Regulation of Expression of the Phycocyanin Operon of the Cyanobacterium Anabaena

Overview

Journal EMBO J

Specialties Biotechnology
Molecular Biology

Date 1987 Apr 1

PMID 3109890

Citations 45

Authors

W R Belknap

R Haselkorn

Affiliations

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Abstract

The biliprotein phycocyanin (PC) is a major constituent of the light-harvesting apparatus of cyanobacteria and red algae. A DNA fragment encoding the beta and alpha subunits of PC was isolated from a genomic library of the cyanobacterium Anabaena 7120 DNA. The single-copy PC genes are part of a larger operon which consists of five open reading frames (ORFs) encoding, in order, the beta and alpha subunits of PC, two linker polypeptides associated with PC in phycobilisome rods, and a fifth ORF, which may encode a linker polypeptide involved in attachment of the phycobilisome rod to the core of the structure. The operon yields three major transcripts, the first of which (1.4 kb) encodes only the PC subunits. A second (3.6 kb) encodes all five ORFs, and appears to arise from partial read-through of a terminator following the PC subunit genes. The third transcript (1.4 kb) encodes the last two ORFs. The relative levels of the three transcripts in vivo are modulated by light intensity, but they are not altered by the removal of fixed nitrogen from the growth medium. The site of light regulation appears to be the terminator following the PC genes, rather than a promoter.

Citing Articles

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A multigene family in Calothrix sp. PCC 7601 encodes phycocyanin, the major component of the cyanobacterial light-harvesting antenna.

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Characterization of phycobiliprotein and linker polypeptide genes in Fremyella diplosiphon and their regulated expression during complementary chromatic adaptation.

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