Arsenio Villarejo

Evidence for a protein transported through the secretory pathway en route to the higher plant chloroplast

In contrast to animal and fungal cells, green plant cells contain one or multiple chloroplasts, the organelle(s) in which photosynthetic reactions take place. Chloroplasts are believed to have originated from an endosymbiotic event and contain DNA that codes for some of their proteins. Most chloroplast proteins are encoded by the nuclear genome and imported with the help of sorting signals that are intrinsic parts of the polypeptides. Here, we show that a chloroplast-located protein in higher plants takes an alternative route through the secretory pathway, and becomes N-glycosylated before entering the chloroplast.

Environmentally modulated phosphoproteome of photosynthetic membranes in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Mapping of in vivo protein phosphorylation sites in photosynthetic membranes of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii revealed that the major environmentally dependent changes in phosphorylation are clustered at the interface between the photosystem II (PSII) core and its light-harvesting antennae (LHCII). The photosynthetic membranes that were isolated form the algal cells exposed to four distinct environmental conditions affecting photosynthesis: (i) dark aerobic, corresponding to photosynthetic State 1; (ii) dark under nitrogen atmosphere, corresponding to photosynthetic State 2; (iii) moderate light; and (iv) high light. The surface-exposed phosphorylated peptides were cleaved from the membrane by trypsin, methyl-esterified, enriched by immobilized metal affinity chromatography, and sequenced by nanospray-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. A total of 19 in vivo phosphorylation sites were mapped in the proteins corresponding to 15 genes in C. reinhardtii. Amino-terminal acetylation of seven proteins was concomitantly determined. Sequenced amino termini of six mature LHCII proteins differed from the predicted ones. The State 1-to-State 2 transition induced phosphorylation of the PSII core components D2 and PsbR and quadruple phosphorylation of a minor LHCII antennae subunit, CP29, as well as phosphorylation of constituents of a major LHCII complex, Lhcbm1 and Lhcbm10. Exposure of the algal cells to either moderate or high light caused additional phosphorylation of the D1 and CP43 proteins of the PSII core. The high light treatment led to specific hyperphosphorylation of CP29 at seven distinct residues, phosphorylation of another minor LHCII constituent, CP26, at a single threonine, and double phosphorylation of additional subunits of a major LHCII complex including Lhcbm4, Lhcbm6, Lhcbm9, and Lhcbm11. Environmentally induced protein phosphorylation at the interface of PSII core and the associated antenna proteins, particularly multiple differential phosphorylations of CP29 linker protein, suggests the mechanisms for control of photosynthetic state transitions and for LHCII uncoupling from PSII under high light stress to allow thermal energy dissipation.

A photosystem II‐associated carbonic anhydrase regulates the efficiency of photosynthetic oxygen evolution

We show for the first time that Cah3, a carbonic anhydrase associated with the photosystem II (PSII) donor side in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, regulates the water oxidation reaction. The mutant cia3, lacking Cah3 activity, has an impaired water splitting capacity, as shown for intact cells, thylakoids and PSII particles. To compensate this impairment, the mutant overproduces PSII reaction centres (1.6 times more than wild type). We present compelling evidence that the mutant has an average of two manganese atoms per PSII reaction centre. When bicarbonate is added to mutant thylakoids or PSII particles, the O2 evolution rates exceed those of the wild type by up to 50%. The donor side of PSII in the mutant also exhibits a much higher sensitivity to overexcitation than that of the wild type. We therefore conclude that Cah3 activity is necessary to stabilize the manganese cluster and maintain the water‐oxidizing complex in a functionally active state. The possibility that two manganese atoms are enough for water oxidation if bicarbonate ions are available is discussed.

Importance of post-translational modifications for functionality of a chloroplast-localized carbonic anhydrase (CAH1) in Arabidopsis thaliana

Background The Arabidopsis CAH1 alpha-type carbonic anhydrase is one of the few plant proteins known to be targeted to the chloroplast through the secretory pathway. CAH1 is post-translationally modified at several residues by the attachment of N-glycans, resulting in a mature protein harbouring complex-type glycans. The reason of why trafficking through this non-canonical pathway is beneficial for certain chloroplast resident proteins is not yet known. Therefore, to elucidate the significance of glycosylation in trafficking and the effect of glycosylation on the stability and function of the protein, epitope-labelled wild type and mutated versions of CAH1 were expressed in plant cells. Methodology/Principal Findings Transient expression of mutant CAH1 with disrupted glycosylation sites showed that the protein harbours four, or in certain cases five, N-glycans. While the wild type protein trafficked through the secretory pathway to the chloroplast, the non-glycosylated protein formed aggregates and associated with the ER chaperone BiP, indicating that glycosylation of CAH1 facilitates folding and ER-export. Using cysteine mutants we also assessed the role of disulphide bridge formation in the folding and stability of CAH1. We found that a disulphide bridge between cysteines at positions 27 and 191 in the mature protein was required for correct folding of the protein. Using a mass spectrometric approach we were able to measure the enzymatic activity of CAH1 protein. Under circumstances where protein N-glycosylation is blocked in vivo, the activity of CAH1 is completely inhibited. Conclusions/Significance We show for the first time the importance of post-translational modifications such as N-glycosylation and intramolecular disulphide bridge formation in folding and trafficking of a protein from the secretory pathway to the chloroplast in higher plants. Requirements for these post-translational modifications for a fully functional native protein explain the need for an alternative route to the chloroplast.

The transit peptide of CP29 thylakoid protein in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is not removed but undergoes acetylation and phosphorylation

The surface‐exposed peptides were cleaved by trypsin from the photosynthetic thylakoid membranes isolated from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Two phosphorylated peptides, enriched from the peptide mixture and sequenced by nanospray quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry, revealed overlapping sequences corresponding to the N‐terminus of a nuclear‐encoded chlorophyll a/b‐binding protein CP29. In contrast to all known nuclear‐encoded thylakoid proteins, the transit peptide in the mature algal CP29 was not removed but processed by methionine excision, N‐terminal acetylation and phosphorylation on threonine 6. The importance of this phosphorylation site is proposed as the reason of the unique transit peptide retention.

Phosphorylation controls the localization and activation of the lumenal carbonic anhydrase in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Background Cah3 is the only carbonic anhydrase (CA) isoform located in the thylakoid lumen of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Previous studies demonstrated its association with the donor side of the photosystem II (PSII) where it is required for the optimal function of the water oxidizing complex. However this enzyme has also been frequently proposed to perform a critical function in inorganic carbon acquisition and CO2 fixation and all mutants lacking Cah3 exhibit very poor growth after transfer to low CO2 conditions. Results/Conclusions In the present work we demonstrate that after transfer to low CO2, Cah3 is phosphorylated and that phosphorylation is correlated to changes in its localization and its increase in activity. When C. reinhardtii wild-type cells were acclimated to limiting CO2 conditions, the Cah3 activity increased about 5–6 fold. Under these conditions, there were no detectable changes in the level of the Cah3 polypeptide. The increase in activity was specifically inhibited in the presence of Staurosporine, a protein kinase inhibitor, suggesting that the Cah3 protein was post-translationally regulated via phosphorylation. Immunoprecipitation and in vitro dephosphorylation experiments confirm this hypothesis. In vivo phosphorylation analysis of thylakoid polypeptides indicates that there was a 3-fold increase in the phosphorylation signal of the Cah3 polypeptide within the first two hours after transfer to low CO2 conditions. The increase in the phosphorylation signal was correlated with changes in the intracellular localization of the Cah3 protein. Under high CO2 conditions, the Cah3 protein was only associated with the donor side of PSII in the stroma thylakoids. In contrast, in cells grown at limiting CO2 the protein was partly concentrated in the thylakoids crossing the pyrenoid, which did not contain PSII and were surrounded by Rubisco molecules. Significance This is the first report of a CA being post-translationally regulated and describing phosphorylation events in the thylakoid lumen.

Carbonic Anhydrase Activities in Pea Thylakoids

Pea thylakoids with high carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity (average rates of 5000 µmol H+ (mg Chl)−1 h−1 at pH 7.0) were prepared. Western blot analysis using antibodies raised against the soluble stromal β-CA from spinach clearly showed that this activity is not a result of contamination of the thylakoids with the stromal CA but is derived from a thylakoid membrane-associated CA. Increase of the CA activity after partial membrane disintegration by detergent treatment, freezing or sonication implies the location of the CA in the thylakoid interior. Salt treatment of thylakoids demonstrated that while one part of the initial enzyme activity is easily soluble, the rest of it appears to be tightly associated with the membrane. CA activity being measured as HCO3− dehydration (dehydrase activity) in Photosystem II particles (BBY) was variable and usually low. The highest and most reproducible activities (approximately 2000 µmol H+ (mg Chl)−1 h−1) were observed in the presence of detergents (Triton X-100 or n-octyl-β-D-glucopyranoside) in low concentrations. The dehydrase CA activity of BBY particles was more sensitive to the lipophilic CA inhibitor, ethoxyzolamide, than to the hydrophilic CA inhibitor, acetazolamide. CA activity was detected in PS II core complexes with average rate of 13,000 µmol H+ (mg Chl)−1 h−1 which was comparable to CA activity in BBY particles normalized on a PS II reaction center basis.

Use of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus 2A Peptide Co-Expression System to Study Intracellular Protein Trafficking in Arabidopsis

Background A tool for stoichiometric co-expression of effector and target proteins to study intracellular protein trafficking processes has been provided by the so called 2A peptide technology. In this system, the 16–20 amino acid 2A peptide from RNA viruses allows synthesis of multiple gene products from single transcripts. However, so far the use of the 2A technology in plant systems has been limited. Methodology/Principal Findings The aim of this work was to assess the suitability of the 2A peptide technology to study the effects exerted by dominant mutant forms of three small GTPase proteins, RABD2a, SAR1, and ARF1 on intracellular protein trafficking in plant cells. Special emphasis was given to CAH1 protein from Arabidopsis, which is trafficking to the chloroplast via a poorly characterized endoplasmic reticulum-to-Golgi pathway. Dominant negative mutants for these GTPases were co-expressed with fluorescent marker proteins as polyproteins separated by a 20 residue self-cleaving 2A peptide. Cleavage efficiency analysis of the generated polyproteins showed that functionality of the 2A peptide was influenced by several factors. This enabled us to design constructs with greatly increased cleavage efficiency compared to previous studies. The dominant negative GTPase variants resulting from cleavage of these 2A peptide constructs were found to be stable and active, and were successfully used to study the inhibitory effect on trafficking of the N-glycosylated CAH1 protein through the endomembrane system. Conclusions/Significance We demonstrate that the 2A peptide is a suitable tool when studying plant intracellular protein trafficking and that transient protoplast and in planta expression of mutant forms of SAR1 and RABD2a disrupts CAH1 trafficking. Similarly, expression of dominant ARF1 mutants also caused inhibition of CAH1 trafficking to a different extent. These results indicate that early trafficking of the plastid glycoprotein CAH1 depends on canonical vesicular transport mechanisms operating between the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus.

Comparative studies on the properties of the extrinsic manganese-stabilizing protein from higher plants and of a synthetic peptide of its C-terminus ☆

The present study describes a comparative analysis on the fluorescence properties of the manganese-stabilizing protein (MSP), a synthetic peptide corresponding to its C terminus and a 7:1 (molar ratio) mixture of N-acetyl-tyrosine and N-acetyl-tryptophan, respectively, together with reconstitution experiments of oxygen evolution in MSP-depleted photosystem II (PS II) membrane fragments. It is found: (i) at neutral pH, the fluorescence from Trp(241) is strongly diminished in MSP solutions, whereas it highly dominates the overall emission from the C-terminus peptide; (ii) at alkaline pH, the emission of Tyr and Trp is quenched in both, MSP and C-terminus peptide, with increasing pH but the decline curve is shifted by about two pH units towards the alkaline region in MSP; (iii) a drastically different pattern emerges in the 7:1 mixture where the Trp emission even slightly increases at high pH; (iv) the anisotropy of the fluorescence emission is wavelength-independent (310-395 nm) and indicative of one emitter type (Trp) in the C-terminus peptide and of two emitter types (Tyr, Trp) in MSP; and (v) in MSP-depleted PS II membrane fragments the oxygen evolution is restored (up to 85% of untreated control) by rebinding of MSP but not by the C-terminus peptide, however, the presence of the latter diminishes the restoration effect of MSP. A quenching mechanism of Trp fluorescence by a next neighbored tyrosinate in the peptide chain is proposed and the relevance of the C terminus of MSP briefly discussed.

Effect of aminooxyacetate, an inhibitor blocking the glycolate pathway, on the induction of a CO2-concentrating mechanism and low-CO2-inducible polypeptides in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Chlorophyta)

Polypeptides of 21, 36 and 37 kDa are induced in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii when cells are transferred from high (5%) to low (0.03%) CO2 concentrations. The synthesis of these polypeptides is correlated with the induction of the CO2-concentrating mechanism. Interaction between the induction of low-CO2-inducible polypeptides, the CO2-concentrating mechanism and photorespiration has been studied in wild-type C. reinhardtii with the aim of clarifying whether the glycolate pathway is involved in algal acclimation to limiting CO2 conditions. Our results showed that the induction of the 37 kDa periplasmic carbonic anhydrase and 21 kDa polypeptide under low-CO2 conditions was not observed in the presence of aminooxyacetate, an inhibitor which completely blocks glycolate metabolism. However, the induction of the 36 kDa polypeptide was not affected by this inhibitor. The presence of aminooxyacetate during the acclimation to low CO2 conditions also inhibited the increase in the photosynthe...