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Plant Cell Advance Online Publication
Published on April 1, 2005; 10.1105/tpc.105.031518


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Received February 3, 2005
Accepted February 25, 2005

The N-Terminal Domain of Chlorophyllide a Oxygenase Confers Protein Instability in Response to Chlorophyll b Accumulation

Akihiro Yamasato 1, Nozomi Nagata 1, Ryouichi Tanaka 1, and Ayumi Tanaka 1*

1 Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0819 Japan; Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi, 332-0012 Japan

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ayumi{at}lowtem.hokudai.ac.jp.

Plants acclimate to variations in light intensity by changing the antenna size of photosystems. This acclimation allows them to undergo efficient photosynthesis and creates a protective strategy to minimize photodamage. Chlorophyll b synthesis by chlorophyllide a oxygenase (CAO) is a key regulatory step in the control of antenna size. Recently, we found that higher plant CAOs consist of three domains (A, B, and C domains) and confirmed that the C domain possesses catalytic function. To investigate the function of the A domain, we fused various combinations of these three domains with green fluorescent protein (GFP) and introduced them into Arabidopsis thaliana. When a full-length CAO-GFP fusion protein was introduced into a chlorophyll b-less chlorina1-1 mutant, chlorophyll b accumulated to almost the same levels as in the chlorophyll b-containing Columbia wild type, but the CAO-GFP could not be detected by immunoblotting. By contrast, when a GFP-C domain fusion was introduced into chlorina1-1 or Columbia wild type, a large amount of GFP-C domain protein accumulated and the chlorophyll a/b ratio decreased drastically from 3.6 to 2.2 in Columbia wild type. When an A domain-GFP was introduced into Columbia wild type, A domain-GFP levels were very low. Conversely, a large amount of the protein accumulated when it was introduced into the chlorina1-1 mutant. These results indicate that the A domain may sense the presence of chlorophyll b and regulate the accumulation of CAO protein in the chloroplasts.







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