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The Plant Journal : For Cell and... May 2024CpcL-phycobilisomes (CpcL-PBSs) are a reduced type of phycobilisome (PBS) found in several cyanobacteria. They lack the traditional PBS terminal energy emitters, but...
CpcL-phycobilisomes (CpcL-PBSs) are a reduced type of phycobilisome (PBS) found in several cyanobacteria. They lack the traditional PBS terminal energy emitters, but still show the characteristic red-shifted fluorescence at ~670 nm. We established a method of assembling in vitro a rod-membrane linker protein, CpcL, with phycocyanin, generating complexes with the red-shifted spectral features of CpcL-PBSs. The red-shift arises from the interaction of a conserved key glutamine, Q57 of CpcL in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, with a single phycocyanobilin chromophore of trimeric phycocyanin at one of the three β82-sites. This chromophore is the terminal energy acceptor of CpcL-PBSs and donor to the photosystem(s). This mechanism also operates in PBSs from Acaryochloris marina MBIC11017. We then generated multichromic complexes harvesting light over nearly the complete visible range via the replacement of phycocyanobilin chromophores at sites α84 and β153 of phycocyanins by phycoerythrobilin and/or phycourobilin. The results demonstrate the rational design of biliprotein-based light-harvesting elements by engineering CpcL and phycocyanins, which broadens the light-harvesting range and accordingly improves the light-harvesting capacity and may be potentially applied in solar energy harvesting.
Topics: Phycobilisomes; Phycocyanin; Synechocystis; Bacterial Proteins; Phycobilins; Cyanobacteria
PubMed: 38319793
DOI: 10.1111/tpj.16666 -
Critical Reviews in Biotechnology May 2024Porphyrins, phycobilins, and their proteins have abundant π-electrons and strongly absorb visible light, some of which bind a metal ion in the center. Because of the... (Review)
Review
Porphyrins, phycobilins, and their proteins have abundant π-electrons and strongly absorb visible light, some of which bind a metal ion in the center. Because of the structural and optical properties, they not only play critical roles as an essential component in natural systems but also have attracted much attention as a high value specialty chemical in various fields, including renewable energy, cosmetics, medicines, and foods. However, their commercial application seems to be still limited because the market price of porphyrins and phycobilins is generally expensive to apply them easily. Furthermore, their petroleum-based chemical synthesis is energy-intensive and emits a pollutant. Recently, to replace petroleum-based production, many studies on the bioproduction of metalloporphyrins, including Zn-porphyrin, Co-porphyrin, and heme, porphyrin derivatives including chlorophyll, biliverdin, and phycobilins, and their proteins including hemoproteins, phycobiliproteins, and phytochromes from renewable carbon sources using microbial cell factories have been reported. This review outlines recent advances in the bioproduction of porphyrins, phycobilins, and their proteins using microbial cell factories developed by various microbial biotechnology techniques, provides well-organized information on metabolic regulations of the porphyrin metabolism, and then critically discusses challenges and future perspectives. Through these, it is expected to be able to achieve possible solutions and insights and to develop an outstanding platform to be applied to the industry in future research.
Topics: Porphyrins; Phycobilins; Metabolic Engineering; Metalloporphyrins; Petroleum
PubMed: 36775664
DOI: 10.1080/07388551.2023.2168512 -
Biotechnology For Biofuels and... Nov 2023Phycobiliproteins (PBPs), one of the functional proteins from algae, are natural pigment-protein complex containing various amino acids and phycobilins. It has various... (Review)
Review
Phycobiliproteins (PBPs), one of the functional proteins from algae, are natural pigment-protein complex containing various amino acids and phycobilins. It has various activities, such as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. And are potential for applications in food, cosmetics, and biomedicine. Improving their metabolic yield is of great interest. Microalgaes are one of the important sources of PBPs, with high growth rate and have the potential for large-scale production. The key to large-scale PBPs production depends on accumulation and recovery of massive productive alga in the upstream stage and the efficiency of microalgae cells breakup and extract PBPs in the downstream stage. Therefore, we reviewed the status quo in the research and development of PBPs production, summarized the advances in each stage and the feasibility of scaled-up production, and demonstrated challenges and future directions in this field.
PubMed: 37941077
DOI: 10.1186/s13068-023-02387-z -
Biotechnology Advances Nov 2023Microalgae are microorganisms capable of producing bioactive compounds using photosynthesis. Microalgae contain a variety of high value-added natural pigments such as... (Review)
Review
Microalgae are microorganisms capable of producing bioactive compounds using photosynthesis. Microalgae contain a variety of high value-added natural pigments such as carotenoids, phycobilins, and chlorophylls. These pigments play an important role in many areas such as food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Natural pigments have a health value that is unmatched by synthetic pigments. However, the current commercial production of natural pigments from microalgae is not able to meet the growing market demand. The use of metabolic engineering and synthetic biological strategies to improve the production performance of microalgal cell factories is essential to promote the large-scale production of high-value pigments from microalgae. This paper reviews the health and economic values, the applications, and the synthesis pathways of microalgal pigments. Overall, this review aims to highlight the latest research progress in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology in constructing engineered strains of microalgae with high-value pigments and the application of CRISPR technology and multi-omics in this context. Finally, we conclude with a discussion on the bottlenecks and challenges of microalgal pigment production and their future development prospects.
Topics: Metabolic Engineering; Microalgae; Synthetic Biology; Carotenoids; Biotechnology
PubMed: 37586543
DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2023.108236 -
Marine Drugs Oct 2023Phycobiliproteins (PBPs) are natural water-soluble pigment proteins, which constitute light-collecting antennae, and function in algae photosynthesis, existing in... (Review)
Review
Phycobiliproteins (PBPs) are natural water-soluble pigment proteins, which constitute light-collecting antennae, and function in algae photosynthesis, existing in cyanobacteria, red algae, and cryptomonads. They are special pigment-protein complexes in algae with a unique structure and function. According to their spectral properties, PBPs can be mainly divided into three types: allophycocyanin, phycocyanin, and PE. At present, there are two main sources of PBPs: one is natural PBPs extracted from algae and the other way is recombinant PBPs which are produced in engineered microorganisms. The covalent connection between PBP and streptavidin was realized by gene fusion. The bridge cascade reaction not only improved the sensitivity of PBP as a fluorescent probe but also saved the preparation time of the probe, which expands the application range of PBPs as fluorescent probes. In addition to its function as a light-collecting antenna in photosynthesis, PBPs also have the functions of biological detection, ion detection, and fluorescence imaging. Notably, increasing studies have designed novel PBP-based far-red fluorescent proteins, which enable the tracking of gene expression and cell fate.
Topics: Phycobiliproteins; Fluorescent Dyes; Photosynthesis
PubMed: 37999396
DOI: 10.3390/md21110572 -
Plant Science : An International... Nov 2023The phycobilisome antennas, which contain phycobilin pigments instead of chlorophyll, are crucial for the photosynthetic activity of Cyanidioschyzon merolae cells, which... (Review)
Review
The phycobilisome antennas, which contain phycobilin pigments instead of chlorophyll, are crucial for the photosynthetic activity of Cyanidioschyzon merolae cells, which thrive in an acidic and hot water environment. The accessible light intensity and quality, temperature, acidity, and other factors in this environment are quite different from those in the air available for terrestrial plants. Under these conditions, adaptation to the intensity and quality of light, as well as temperature, which are key factors in photosynthesis of higher plants, also affects this process in Cyanidioschyzon merolae cells. Adaptation to varying light conditions requires fast remodeling and re-tuning of their light-harvesting antennas (phycobilisomes) at multiple levels, from regulation of gene expression to structural reorganization of protein-pigment complexes. This review presents selected data on the structure of phycobilisomes, the genetic engineering of the constituent proteins, and the latest results and opinions on the adaptation of phycobilisomes to light intensity and quality, and temperature to photosynthetic activities. We pay special attention to the latest results of the C. merolae research.
PubMed: 37659734
DOI: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2023.111854 -
Journal of Microbiological Methods Aug 2023Green nanotechnology provides efficient solutions for converting biological systems to green approaches through nanomaterial synthesis and thus preventing any associated... (Review)
Review
Green nanotechnology provides efficient solutions for converting biological systems to green approaches through nanomaterial synthesis and thus preventing any associated toxicity. Green nanoparticle (NP) synthesis involves the use of biological sources for synthesis of metallic NPs for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications in an eco-friendly and comparatively economical manner. Nanotechnology is a promising technology with a wide range of pharmaceutical applications in the modern world because it provides a higher surface area (SA) to volume (Vol) ratio. Compared to chemically synthesized NPs, algal-based NPs have recently received increasing attention from researchers worldwide as potential agents to treat and inhibit infections caused by microbial pathogens resistant to antibiotics. Algae produce various bioactive compounds such as chlorophyll, phycobilins, phenolics, flavonoids, glucosides, tannins, and saponins that can be used as therapeutic agents. Metallic NPs exert greater toxic effects on their targets than their macroscopic counterparts. Both macroalgae and some microalgae are used to synthesize metallic NPs that exhibit antimicrobial activity. The synthesis of algal-based NPs may provide potential drug candidates for use in nanomedicine against microbial diseases. To date, many studies have been conducted on algal-based NPs and their potential antimicrobial and antifungal activities. Therefore, in this review we have focused on the green synthesis of different NPs using algae and their therapeutic potential with reference to their antimicrobial activity.
Topics: Metal Nanoparticles; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Anti-Infective Agents; Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology; Plants; Pharmaceutical Preparations
PubMed: 37487886
DOI: 10.1016/j.mimet.2023.106790 -
Frontiers in Microbiology 2023Cyanophages affect the abundance, diversity, metabolism, and evolution of picocyanobacteria in marine ecosystems. Here we report an estuarine phage, S-CREM2, which...
Cyanophages affect the abundance, diversity, metabolism, and evolution of picocyanobacteria in marine ecosystems. Here we report an estuarine phage, S-CREM2, which represents a novel viral genus and leads to the establishment of a new T4-like cyanophage clade named cluster C. S-CREM2 possesses the longest tail (~418 nm) among isolated cyanomyoviruses and encodes six tail-related proteins that are exclusively homologous to those predicted in the cluster C cyanophages. Furthermore, S-CREM2 may carry three regulatory proteins in the virion, which may play a crucial role in optimizing the host intracellular environment for viral replication at the initial stage of infection. The cluster C cyanophages lack auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) that are commonly found in cyanophages of the T4-like clusters A and B and encode unique AMGs like an S-type phycobilin lyase gene. A variation in the composition of tRNA and regulatory RNA genes was observed between the marine and freshwater phage strains in cluster C, reflecting their different modes of coping with hosts and habitats. The cluster C cyanophages are widespread in estuarine and coastal regions and exhibit equivalent or even higher relative abundance compared to those of clusters A and B cyanophages in certain estuarine regions. The isolation of cyanophage S-CREM2 provides new insights into the phage-host interactions mediated by both newly discovered AMGs and virion-associated proteins and emphasizes the ecological significance of cluster C cyanophages in estuarine environments.
PubMed: 38029084
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1293846 -
The Science of the Total Environment Nov 2023The number of applications and commercialized processes utilizing ionic liquids has been increasing, and it is anticipated that this trend will persist and even...
The number of applications and commercialized processes utilizing ionic liquids has been increasing, and it is anticipated that this trend will persist and even intensify in the future. Ionic liquids possess desirable characteristics, such as low vapor pressure, good water solubility, amphiphilicity, and stability. Nevertheless, these properties can influence their environmental behavior, resulting in resistance to biotic and abiotic degradation and subsequent water contamination with more harmful derivatives. However, there is a notable scarcity of data regarding the impact of mixtures comprising ionic liquids and other micropollutants. Identifying potential potentiation of ionic liquids (Ils) toxicity in the presence of other xenobiotics is a proactive risk assessment measure. Therefore, the study aims to fill an important knowledge gap and identify possible interactions between imidazolium-based ionic liquid (IM1-12Br) and the common antibiotic oxytetracycline (OXTC). During 11-day experiments, selected marine, brackish and freshwater microorganisms (diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa and green algae Chlorella vulgaris) were exposed to binary mixtures of target substances. The assessed responses encompassed chlorophyll a kinetic parameters related to photosynthesis efficiency, as well as pigment concentrations, specifically phycobilin content. Additionally, the impact on the luminescent marine bacterium Aliivibrio fischeri has been evaluated. Significant effects on the growth, photosynthetic processes, and pigment content were observed in all the targeted microorganisms. The concentration addition (CA) and independent action (IA) mathematical models followed by the Model Deviation Ratio (MDR) evaluation enabled the identification of mainly synergistic interactions in the studied mixtures. The findings of present study offer valuable insights into the impacts of ionic liquids and other organic micropollutants.
PubMed: 37527710
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165898 -
Communications Biology Sep 2023The mechanisms of acclimating to a nitrogen-fluctuating environment are necessary for the survival of aquatic cyanobacteria in their natural habitats, but our...
The mechanisms of acclimating to a nitrogen-fluctuating environment are necessary for the survival of aquatic cyanobacteria in their natural habitats, but our understanding is still far from complete. Here, the synthesis of phycobiliprotein is confirmed to be much earlier than that of photosystem components during recovery from nitrogen chlorosis and an unknown protein Ssr1698 is discovered to be involved in this synthetic process. The unknown protein is further identified as a c-type heme oxygenase (cHO) in tetrapyrrole biosynthetic pathway and catalyzes the opening of heme ring to form biliverdin IXα, which is required for phycobilin production and ensuing phycobiliprotein synthesis. In addition, the cHO-dependent phycobiliprotein is found to be vital for the growth of cyanobacterial cells during chlorosis and regreening through its nitrogen-storage and light-harvesting functions, respectively. Collectively, the cHO expressed preferentially during recovery from nitrogen chlorosis is identified in photosynthetic organisms and the dual function of this enzyme-dependent phycobiliprotein is proposed to be an important mechanism for acclimation of aquatic cyanobacteria to a nitrogen-fluctuating environment.
Topics: Humans; Heme Oxygenase (Decyclizing); Cyanobacteria; Acclimatization; Anemia, Hypochromic; Nitrogen; Phycobiliproteins
PubMed: 37714932
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05315-x