Impaired photoacclimation in a kleptoplastidic dinoflagellate reveals physiological limits of early stages of endosymbiosis

Dinophysis dinoflagellates are predators of Mesodinium ciliates, from which they retain only the plastids of cryptophyte origin. The absence of nuclear photosynthetic cryptophyte genes in Dinophysis raises intriguing physiological and evolutionary questions regarding the functional dynamics of these temporary kleptoplastids within a foreign cellular environment. In an experimental setup including two light conditions, the comparative analysis with Mesodinium rubrum and the cryptophyte Teleaulax amphioxeia revealed that Dinophysis acuminata possessed a smaller and less dynamic functional photosynthetic antenna for green light, a function performed by phycoerythrin. We showed that the lack of the cryptophyte nucleus prevented the synthesis of the phycoerythrin α subunit, thereby hindering the formation of a complete phycoerythrin in Dinophysis. In particular, biochemical analyses showed that Dinophysis acuminata synthesized a poorly stable, incomplete phycoerythrin composed of chromophorylated β subunits, with impaired performance. We show that, consequently, a continuous supply of new plastids is crucial for growth and effective photoacclimation in this organism. Transcriptome analyses revealed that all examined strains of Dinophysis spp. have acquired the cryptophyte pebA and pebB genes through horizontal gene transfer, suggesting a potential ability to synthesize the phycobilin pigments bound to the cryptophyte phycoerythrin. By emphasizing that a potential long-term acquisition of the cryptophyte plastid relies on establishing genetic independence for essential functions such as light harvesting, this study highlights the intricate molecular challenges inherent in the enslavement of organelles and the processes involved in the diversification of photosynthetic organisms through endosymbiosis.

Redox-Based Transcriptional Regulation in Prokaryotes: Revisiting Model Mechanisms

SIGNIFICANCE

The successful adaptation of microorganisms to ever-changing environments depends, to a great extent, on their ability to maintain redox homeostasis. To effectively maintain the redox balance, cells have developed a variety of strategies mainly coordinated by a battery of transcriptional regulators through diverse mechanisms. Recent Advances: This comprehensive review focuses on the main mechanisms used by major redox-responsive regulators in prokaryotes and their relationship with the different redox signals received by the cell. An overview of the corresponding regulons is also provided.

CRITICAL ISSUES

Some regulators are difficult to classify since they may contain several sensing domains and respond to more than one signal. We propose a classification of redox-sensing regulators into three major groups. The first group contains one-component or direct regulators, whose sensing and regulatory domains are in the same protein. The second group comprises the classical two-component systems involving a sensor kinase that transduces the redox signal to its DNA-binding partner. The third group encompasses a heterogeneous group of flavin-based photosensors whose mechanisms are not always fully understood and are often involved in more complex regulatory networks.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Redox-responsive transcriptional regulation is an intricate process as identical signals may be sensed and transduced by different transcription factors, which often interplay with other DNA-binding proteins with or without regulatory activity. Although there is much information about some key regulators, many others remain to be fully characterized due to the instability of their clusters under oxygen. Understanding the mechanisms and the regulatory networks operated by these regulators is essential for the development of future applications in biotechnology and medicine.

The heme-regulatory motif of nuclear receptor Rev-erbβ is a key mediator of heme and redox signaling in circadian rhythm maintenance and metabolism

Rev-erbβ is a heme-responsive transcription factor that regulates genes involved in circadian rhythm maintenance and metabolism, effectively bridging these critical cellular processes. Heme binding to Rev-erbβ indirectly facilitates its interaction with the nuclear receptor co-repressor (NCoR1), resulting in repression of Rev-erbβ target genes. Fe³⁺-heme binds in a 6-coordinate complex with axial His and Cys ligands, the latter provided by a heme-regulatory motif (HRM). Rev-erbβ was thought to be a heme sensor based on a weak K_d value for the Rev-erbβ·heme complex of 2 μm determined with isothermal titration calorimetry. However, our group demonstrated with UV-visible difference titrations that the K_d value is in the low nanomolar range, and the Fe³⁺-heme off-rate is on the order of 10^-6 s^-1 making Rev-erbβ ineffective as a sensor of Fe³⁺-heme. In this study, we dissected the kinetics of heme binding to Rev-erbβ and provided a K_d for Fe³⁺-heme of ∼0.1 nm Loss of the HRM axial thiolate via redox processes, including oxidation to a disulfide with a neighboring cysteine or dissociation upon reduction of Fe³⁺- to Fe²⁺-heme, decreased binding affinity by >20-fold. Furthermore, as measured in a co-immunoprecipitation assay, substitution of the His or Cys heme ligands in Rev-erbβ was accompanied by a significant loss of NCoR1 binding. These results demonstrate the importance of the Rev-erbβ HRM in regulating interactions with heme and NCoR1 and advance our understanding of how signaling through HRMs affects the major cellular processes of circadian rhythm maintenance and metabolism.