Chlorophyll f-driven photosynthesis in a cavernous cyanobacterium

Chlorophyll (Chl) f is the most recently discovered chlorophyll and has only been found in cyanobacteria from wet environments. Although its structure and biophysical properties are resolved, the importance of Chl f as an accessory pigment in photosynthesis remains unresolved. We found Chl f in a cyanobacterium enriched from a cavernous environment and report the first example of Chl f-supported oxygenic photosynthesis in cyanobacteria from such habitats. Pigment extraction, hyperspectral microscopy and transmission electron microscopy demonstrated the presence of Chl a and f in unicellular cyanobacteria found in enrichment cultures. Amplicon sequencing indicated that all oxygenic phototrophs were related to KC1, a Chl f-containing cyanobacterium previously isolated from an aquatic environment. Microsensor measurements on aggregates demonstrated oxygenic photosynthesis at 742 nm and less efficient photosynthesis under 768- and 777-nm light probably because of diminished overlap with the absorption spectrum of Chl f and other far-red absorbing pigments. Our findings suggest the importance of Chl f-containing cyanobacteria in terrestrial habitats.The textbook concept that oxygenic phototrophs primarily use radiation in the visible range (400–700 nm) has been challenged by several findings of unique cyanobacteria and chlorophylls (Chl) over the past two decades (Miyashita et al., 1996; Chen et al., 2010; Croce and van Amerongen, 2014) Unicellular cyanobacteria in the genus Acaryochloris primarily employ Chl d for oxygenic photosynthesis at 700–720 nm (Miyashita et al., 1996) and thrive in shaded habitats with low levels of visible light but replete of near-infrared radiation (NIR, >700 nm, Kühl et al., 2005; Behrendt et al., 2011, 2012). Furthermore, Chl f was recently discovered in filamentous (Chen et al., 2010; Airs et al., 2014; Gan et al., 2014) and unicellular cyanobacteria (Miyashita et al., 2014), enabling light harvesting even further into the NIR region up to ∼740 nm, often aided by employing additional far-red light-absorbing pigments such as Chl d and phycobiliproteins (Gan et al., 2014). Whereas the biochemical structure (Willows et al., 2013) and biophysical properties (Li et al., 2013; Tomo et al., 2014) of Chl f have been studied in detail, the actual importance of this new chlorophyll for photosynthesis is hardly explored (Li et al., 2014).Chlorophyll f has been found in cyanobacteria originating from aquatic/wet environments: the filamentous Halomicronema hongdechloris from stromatolites in Australia (Chen et al., 2012), a unicellar morphotype (Strain KC1) from Lake Biwa in Japan (Akutsu et al., 2011; Miyashita et al., 2014) and a filamentous Leptolyngbya sp. strain (JSC-1, Gan et al., 2014) from a hot-spring and in a unicellular Chlorogloeopsis fritschii strain from rice paddies (Airs et al., 2014). In this study, we report on a unicellular Chl f-containing cyanobacterium originating from a wet cavernous habitat and demonstrate its capability of NIR-driven oxygenic photosynthesis. Enrichments of the new cyanobacterium were obtained from a dense dark green-blackish biofilm dominated by globular morphotypes of Nostocaceae growing on moist limestone outside Jenolan Caves, NSW, Australia. The sampling site was heavily shaded even during mid-day with low irradiance levels of 400- to 700-nm light varying from 0.5 to 5 μmol photons m⁻² s⁻¹. Biofilms were carefully scraped off the substratum and kept in shaded zip-lock bags in a moist atmosphere until further processing. Samples were then incubated at 28 °C in a f/2 medium under NIR at 720 nm (∼10 μmol photons m⁻² s⁻¹) yielding conspicuous green cell aggregates after several months of incubation. Repeated transfer of the aggregates into fresh medium resulted in a culture predominated by green cell clusters (Figure 1a), exhibiting orange-red fluorescence upon excitation with blue light (Figure 1b). Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the green clusters consisted of slightly elongated unicellular cyanobacteria (∼1- to 2-μm wide and ∼2- to 3-μm long), with stacked thylakoids and embedded in a joint polymer matrix (Figure 1c). Hyperspectral microscopy (Kühl and Polerecky, 2008) of the clusters revealed distinct troughs in the transmission spectra at absorption maxima indicative of Chl a (675–680 nm) and Chl f (∼720 nm; Figure 1d, red line). In situ spectral irradiance measurements at the sampling site showed strong depletion of visible wavelengths in the 480- to 710-nm range (Figure 1d, gray line), whereas highest light levels were found in the near-infrared region of the solar spectrum at 710–900 nm. The presence of Chl a and f was further confirmed in enrichment cultures using high-performance liquid chromatography-based pigment analysis (Figure 1e, Supplementary Figure S1), while no Chl d was detected. In addition, weak spectral signatures of carotenoids and phycobilins, with absorption occurring at ∼495 and 665 nm, were evident in the hyperspectral data. Cyanobacteria, including those producing Chl d/f, are known to actively remodel their pigment content in response to the available light spectrum (Stomp et al., 2007; Chen and Scheer, 2013; Gan et al., 2014) and Chl d/f has almost exclusively been found in cyanobacteria grown under far-red light and not under visible light (Kühl et al., 2005; Chen et al., 2010; Airs et al., 2014; Gan et al., 2014; Li et al., 2014; Miyashita et al., 2014). Recent work describes this acclimation response as ‘Far-Red Light photoacclimation'' (FaRLiP), which, in strain JSC-1, comprises a global change in gene expression and structural remodeling of the PSII/PSI core proteins and phycobilisome constituents (Gan et al., 2014). The extent to which this arrangement results in optimized photosynthetic performance is only known for the NIR (=710 nm)-acclimated strain JSC-1, where exposure to wavelengths >695 nm resulted in 40% higher O₂ evolution rates as compared with cells that were previously adapted to red light (645 nm; Gan et al., 2014). Yet the discrimination of actinic wavelengths and their relative effect on gross photosynthesis in Chl f-containing cells needs further investigation. Using an O₂ microsensor and the light–dark shift method (Revsbech et al., 1983) on embedded Chl f-containing aggregates, we found maximal gross photosynthesis rates (∼1.06 μmol O₂ cm⁻³ s⁻¹) to occur at irradiances of ∼250 μmol photons m⁻² s⁻¹ of 742 nm (half-bandwidth, HBW, 25 nm, Figures 2a and b) with light saturation to occur very early at ∼35 μmol photons m⁻² s⁻¹. Further red-shifted actinic light, that is, 768 nm (HBW 28 nm) and 777 nm (HBW 30 nm), yielded lower O₂ evolution rates, which, in all likelihood, are an effect of the diminished overlap with far-red light-absorbing pigments, including Chl f (Figures 2a and b). As O₂ evolution rates were measured on non-axenic cell aggregates, 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing was employed to determine the microbial diversity found within the enrichment culture. This revealed the presence of a variety of bacterial types, including anoxygenic phototrophs, yet all sequences for known oxygenic phototrophs in the data set (∼9.3% of all reads on the order level, Supplementary Figure S2) formed a single operational taxonomic unit (OTU) closely affiliated with the Chl f-containing strain KC1 (Miyashita et al., 2014, Figure 2c).Open in a separate windowFigure 1Imaging and pigment analysis of Chl f-containing cyanobacteria isolated from a cavernous low-light environment. (a) Representative bright field microscope image of cultured cells grown under 720 nm NIR. (b) Fluorescence image of the same cells as in a, excited at 450–490 nm, with emission being detected at >510 nm. (c) Transmission electron microscopy of a Chl f-containing cyanobacterium with densely stacked thylakoid membranes. (d) Transmittance spectrum of cell aggregate determined by hyperspectral imaging (red line). Ambient light conditions at the site of isolation (gray line), as measured by a spectroradiometer. Note the Chl f-specific in vivo absorption at ∼720 nm in the transmittance spectrum (dotted line). Small insert picture denotes the cells and area of interest (black arrow) from which the spectrum was taken. (e) In vitro absorption spectrum of Chl f extracted from enrichment cultures and analyzed via high-performance liquid chromatography. The two Chl f-specific absorption peaks (404 and 704 nm in acetone:MeOH solvent) are indicated.Open in a separate windowFigure 2Taxonomic affiliation and O₂ evolution of Chl f-containing cells as determined by O₂ microelectrode measurements and 16 S rDNA amplicon sequencing. (a) Emission spectra of narrow-band light-emitting diodes (LEDs) used in this study, with peak emissions at 742, 768 and 777 nm indicated by a–c, respectively. (b) Gross photosynthesis measured via an O₂ microsensor placed in a clump of agarose-embedded Chl f-containing cells. Different NIR irradiance was administered by the LEDs in a and by altering the distance of the LEDs to the embedded cells. (c) Phylogenetic affiliation of known Chl f and/or Chl d-containing cyanobacteria (highlighted in gray) and their respective habitat/place of isolation. Taxonomy was determined by clustering all known oxygenic phototrophs found in enrichment cultures from this study (at order level) into a single OTU (=292 bp length, see Supplementary Materials for details). Phylogeny was inferred using Maximum-likelihood in conjunction with the GTR +I +G nucleotide substitution model, tree stability was tested using bootstrapping with 100 replicates. The analysis involved 39 nucleotide sequences each truncated to a length of 292 bp. Here, the green-sulphur bacterium Chlorobium tepidum TLS was chosen as the outgroup.This advocates that cells from our enrichment culture are related to KC1 cells and supports, in conjunction with further morphological-, physiological- and ultrastructural evidence, that Chl f is extending the usable light spectrum for oxygenic photosynthesis in a cavernous low-light environment. Given the lifestyle and known habitats of recognized Chl d/f-producing cyanobacteria (Figure 2c), we propose that many, if not all, surface-associated cyanobacteria are intrinsically capable of producing far-red light-absorbing pigments and to actively employ them in oxygenic photosynthesis as a result of FaRLiP or similar, yet unknown, mechanisms.     

Differential direct effects of cyclo-oxygenase-1/2 inhibition on proteoglycan turnover of human osteoarthritic cartilage: an <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis>study

Treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) diminishes inflammation along with mediators of cartilage destruction. However, NSAIDs may exert adverse direct effects on cartilage, particularly if treatment is prolonged. We therefore compared the direct effects of indomethacin, naproxen, aceclofenac and celecoxib on matrix turnover in human OA cartilage tissue. Human clinically defined OA cartilage from five different donors was exposed for 7 days in culture to indomethacin, naproxen, aceclofenac and celecoxib – agents chosen based on their cyclo-oxygenase (COX)-2 selectivity. As a control, SC-560 (a selective COX-1 inhibitor) was used. Changes in cartilage proteoglycan turnover and prostaglandin E₂ production were determined. OA cartilage exhibited characteristic proteoglycan turnover. Indomethacin further inhibited proteoglycan synthesis; no significant effect of indomethacin on proteoglycan release was found, and proteoglycan content tended to decrease. Naproxen treatment was not associated with changes in any parameter. In contrast, aceclofenac and, prominently, celecoxib had beneficial effects on OA cartilage. Both were associated with increased proteoglycan synthesis and normalized release. Importantly, both NSAIDs improved proteoglycan content. Inhibition of prostaglandin E₂ production indirectly showed that all NSAIDs inhibited COX, with the more COX-2 specific agents having more pronounced effects. Selective COX-1 inhibition resulted in adverse effects on all parameters, and prostaglandin E₂ production was only mildly inhibited. NSAIDs with low COX-2/COX-1 selectivity exhibit adverse direct effects on OA cartilage, whereas high COX-2/COX-1 selective NSAIDs did not show such effects and might even have cartilage reparative properties.     

Rapid, sequential changes in surface morphology of PC12 pheochromocytoma cells in response to nerve growth factor

The effect of nerve growth factor (NGF), a substance that promotes the differentiation and maintenance of certain neurons, was studied via scanning electron microscopy utilizing the PC12 clonal NGF-responsive pheochromocytoma cell line. After 2-4 d of exposure to NGF, these cells acquire many of the properties of normal sympathic neurons. However, by phase microscopy, no changes are discernible within the first 12-18 h. Since the primary NGF receptor appears to be a membrane receptor, it seemed likely that some of the initial responses to the factor may be surface related. PC12 cells maintained without NGF are round to ovoid and have numerous microvilli and small blebs. After the addition of NGF, there is a rapidly initiated sequential change in the cell surface. Ruffles appear over the dorsal surface of the cells with 1 min, become prominent by 3 min, and almost disappear by 7 min. Microvilli, conversely, disappear as the dorsal ruffles become prominent. Ruffles are seen at the the periphery of cell at 3 min, are prominent on most of the cells by 7 min and are gone by 15 min. The surface remains smooth from 15 min until 45 min when large blebs appear. The large blebs are present on most cells at 2 h and are gone by 4 h. The surface remains relatively smooth until 6-7 h of NGF treatment, when microvilli reappear as small knobs. These microvilli increase in both number and length to cover the cell surface by 10 h. These changes were not observed with other basic proteins, with α-bungarotoxin (which binds specifically to PC12 membranes), and were not affected by an RNA synthesis inhibitor that blocks initiation of neurite outgrowth. Changes in the cell surface architecture appear to be among the earlist NGF responses yet detected and may represent or reflect primary events in the mechanism of the factor’s action.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of enantiopure thionitrites: the solid-phase synthesis and nitrosation of D-glutathione as a molecular probe

The D-isomer of the naturally-occurring tripeptide glutathione (gamma-L-Glu-L-Cys-Gly, L-GSH) has been synthesised using the Fmoc solid phase peptide synthesis strategy. The D-GSH obtained has been nitrosated to give the D-isomer of the bioactive thionitrite, S-nitroso-L-glutathione. The biological activity of both enantiomers of S-nitrosoglutathione has been studied and compared to the activity of the D- and L-isomers of N-acetyl-S-nitrosopenicillamine (SNAP) and S-nitrosocysteine (CysNO).     

Evolutionary stability of the R1 retrotransposable element in the genus Drosophila

R1 is a non-long terminal repeat (non-LTR) retrotransposable element that inserts into a specific sequence of insect 28S ribosomal RNA genes. We have previously shown that this element has been maintained through vertical transmission in the melanogaster species subgroup of Drosophila. To address whether R1 elements have been vertically transmitted for longer periods of evolutionary time, the analysis has been extended to 11 other species from four species groups of the genus Drosophila (melanogaster, obscura, testecea, and repleta). All sequenced elements appeared functional on the basis of the preservation of their open-reading frames and consistently higher rate of substitution at synonymous sites relative to replacement sites. The phylogenetic relationships of the R1 elements from all species analyzed were congruent with the species phylogenies, suggesting that the R1 elements have been vertically transmitted since the inception of the Drosophila genus, an estimated 50-70 Mya. The stable maintenance of R1 through the germ line appears to be the major mechanism for the widespread distribution of these elements in Drosophila. In two species, D. neotestecea of the testecea group and D. takahashii of the melanogaster group, a second family of R1 elements was also present that differed in sequence by 46% and 31%, respectively, from the family that was congruent with the species phylogeny. These second families may represent occasional horizontal transfers or, alternatively, they could reflect the ability of R1 elements to diverge into new families within a species and evolve independently.      

The glass transition temperatures of amorphous trehalose-water mixtures and the mobility of water: an experimental and in silico study

Isothermal-isobaric molecular dynamics simulations are used to calculate the specific volume of models of trehalose and three amorphous trehalose-water mixtures (2.9%, 4.5% and 5.3% (w/w) water, respectively) as a function of temperature. Plots of specific volume versus temperature exhibit a characteristic change in slope when the amorphous systems change from the glassy to the rubbery state and the intersection of the two regression lines provides an estimate of the glass transition temperature T(g). A comparison of the calculated and experimental T(g) values, as obtained from differential scanning calorimetry, shows that despite the predicted values being systematically higher (about 21-26K), the trend and the incremental differences between the T(g) values have been computed correctly: T(g)(5.3%(w/w))相似文献