Donald P Weeks

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Biochemistry

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The Cia5 gene controls formation of the carbon concentrating mechanism in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Y. Xiang; J. Zhang; D.P. Weeks (Profiled Author: Donald P Weeks)

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2001;98(9):5341-5346.

Wild-type Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells shifted from high concentrations (5%) of CO 2 to low, ambient levels (0.03%) rapidly increase transcription of mRNAs from several CO 2 -responsive genes. Simultaneously, they develop a functional carbon concentrating mechanism that allows the cells to greatly increase internal levels of CO 2 and HCO 3 - . The cia5 mutant is defective in all of these phenotypes. A newly isolated gene, designated Cia5, restores transformed cia5 cells to the phenotype of wild-type cells. The 6,481-bp gene produces a 5.1-kb mRNA that is present constitutively in light in high and low CO 2 both in wild-type cells and the cia5 mutant. It encodes a protein that has features of a putative transcription factor and that, likewise, is present constitutively in low and high CO 2 conditions. Complementation of cia5 can be achieved with a truncated Cia5 gene that is missing the coding information for 54 C-terminal amino acids. Unlike wild-type cells or cia5 mutants transformed with an intact Cia5 gene, cia5 mutants complemented with the truncated gene exhibit constitutive synthesis of mRNAs from CO 2 -responsive genes in light under both high and low CO 2 conditions. These discoveries suggest that posttranslational changes to the C-terminal domain control the ability of CIA5 to act as an inducer and directly or indirectly control transcription of CO 2 -responsive genes. Thus, CIA5 appears to be a master regulator of the carbon concentrating mechanism and is intimately involved in the signal transduction mechanism that senses and allows immediate responses to fluctuations in environmental CO 2 and HCO 3 - concentrations.

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