Defenses against excess light in diatoms: molecular regulatory mechanism of light-harvesting pigment proteins

December 7, 2020

A new Raman Probe for plant cells

A joint research group from Okayama University and Kobe University, as well as RIKEN CSRS, succeeded in analyzing the expression of light-harvesting pigment protein (fucoxanthin chlorophyll a/c-binding protein: FCP) in a diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum under excessively strong light and the excitation-energy transfer mechanism using time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. These results showed that Phaeodactylum regulates the molecular structure and excitation-energy transfer pathway of FCP under excessively strong light, inducing energy quenching.

The results of this study will give an answer to a question "How do diatoms regulate and function the light-harvesting pigment protein FCP when receiving stress from excessively strong light?" This optical response mechanism may be part of an important survival strategy for diatoms.

Original article
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Bioenergetics doi:10.1016/j.bbabio.2020.148350
R. Nagao, M. Yokono, Y. Ueno, T. Suzuki, M. Kumazawa, K. Kato, N. Tsuboshita, N. Dohmae, K. Ifuku, J. Shen, S. Akimoto,
"Enhancement of excitation-energy quenching in fucoxanthin chlorophyll a/c-binding proteins isolated from a diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum upon excess-light illumination".
Contact
Naoshi Dohmae
Unit Leader
Biomolecular Characterization Unit