Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 105, Issue 33, Pages 12075-12080Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0804636105
Keywords
cyanobacteria; nonphotochemical quenching; photoprotection; phycobilisome
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Funding
- I'Agence Nationale de la Recherche, France
- INTRO2 European Union FP6 Marie Curie Research Training Network
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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.
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