The pair of bacteriophytochromes from Agrobacterium tumefaciens are histidine kinases with opposing photobiological properties

Bacteriophytochrome photoreceptors (BphPs) are a family of phytochrome-like sensor kinases that help a wide variety of bacteria respond to their light environment. In Agrobacterium, tumefaciens, a unique pair of BphPs with potentially opposing roles in light sensing are present. Both AtBphPs contain an N-terminal chromophore-binding domain that covalently attaches a biliverdin chromophore. Whereas AtBphP1 assumes a Pr ground state, AtBphP2 is unusual in that it assumes a Pfr ground state that is produced nonphotochemically after biliverdin binding through a transient Pr-like intermediate. Photoconversion of AtBphP2 with far-red light then generates Pr but this Pr is also unstable and rapidly reverts nonphotochemically to Pfr. AtB-phP1 contains a typical two-component histidine kinase domain at its C terminus whose activity is repressed after photoconversion to Pfr. AtBphP2 also functions as a histidine kinase but instead uses a distinct two-component kinase motif that is repressed after photoconversion to Pr. We identified sequences related to this domain in numerous predicted sensing proteins in A. tumefaciens and other bacteria, indicating that AtBphP2 might represent the founding member of a family of histidine phosphorelay proteins that is widely used in environmental signaling. By using these mutually opposing BphPs, A. tumefaciens presumably has the capacity to simultaneously sense red light-rich and far-red light-rich environments through deactivation of their associated kinase cascades.