Vibrational Assignment of the Flavin-Cysteinyl Adduct in a Signaling State of the LOV Domain in FKF1

LOV domains belong to the PAS domain superfamily, which are found in a variety of sensor proteins in organism ranging from archaea to eukaryotes, and they noncovalently bind a single flavin mononucleotide as a chromophore. We report the Raman spectra of the dark state of LOV domain in FKF1 from Arabidopsis thaliana. Spectra have been also measured for the signaling state, where a cysteinyl-flavin adduct is formed upon light irradiation. Most of the observed Raman bands are assigned on the basis of normal mode calculations using a density functional theory. We also discuss implication for the analysis of the infrared spectra of LOV domains. The comprehensive assignment provides a satisfactory framework for future investigations of the photocycle mechanism in LOV domains by vibrational spectroscopy.