The origin of light harvesting function in the photosynthetic antenna complex

• Project/Area Number: 15K18562
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Plant molecular biology/Plant physiology
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Maruyama Shinichiro 東北大学, 生命科学研究科, 助教 (50712296)
• Research Collaborator: MINAGAWA Jun ; MIYAGISHIMA Shin-ya ; FUJIWARA Takayuki ; KAWATA Masakado
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2016)
• Budget Amount: ¥2,730,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥630,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000)
• Keywords: 葉緑体 / 植物 / 進化 / 光合成 / 集光アンテナ / LHC / 紅藻 / 遺伝子重複 / 集光アンテナ装置

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Eukaryotic photosynthetic organisms have evolved light harvesting complex (LHC) as a device of efficient light capture for photosynthesis. Since the studies on LHC has been focused on the ones in green plants, function of LHC in ancestral chloroplasts has been elusive.
In this study, we attempted to generate LHC mutants of a red alga, which still possesses ancestral characters of plants, and successfully obtained mutant lines lacking all the functional LHC genes in the genomes. In addition, we found that mutants showed significantly lower growth rates compared to wild type under a certain growth condition. These results indicate that eukaryotic photosynthetic antenna have evolved as a trait dispensable but conditionally advantageous for growth.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] A blue light photoreceptor mediates the feedback regulation of photosynthesis. (2016)
  • Author(s): Petroutsos D, Tokutsu R, Maruyama S, Flori S, Greiner A, Magneschi L, Cusant L, Kottke T, Mittag M, Hegemann P, Finazzi G and Minagawa J.
  • Journal Title: Nature Volume: 537 Issue: 7621 Pages: 563-566
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature19358
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] Gene loss and error-prone RNA editing in the mitochondrion of Perkinsela, an endosymbiotic kinetoplastid (2015)
  • Author(s): David V, Flegontov P, Gerasimov E, Tanifuji G, Hashimi H, Logacheva M, Maruyama S, Onodera NT, Gray MW, Archibald JM, Lukes J
  • Journal Title: MBio Volume: 6 Issue: 6
  • DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01498-15
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] サンゴ共生藻における集光アンテナ複合体 (2015)
  • Author(s): 丸山真一朗
  • Journal Title: 光合成研究 Volume: 25 Pages: 100-105
  • NAID: 40020570707
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Presentation] The scope of the principle of parsimony in inferring the origins of evolutionary characters (2016)
  • Author(s): Shinichiro Maruyama, Yukari Suzuki-Ohno, Masakado Kawata
  • Organizer: The 13th International Colloquium on Endocytobiology and Symbiosis ‘ICES 2016 Kyoto’
  • Place of Presentation: Kyoto Prefectural University. Kyoto, Japan.
  • Year and Date: 2016-09-10
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] 共生オルガネラの単一起源説における最節約原理の役割 (2015)
  • Author(s): 丸山真一朗
  • Organizer: 第9回生物学基礎論研究会
  • Place of Presentation: 東京農業大学オホーツクキャンパス（北海道網走市）
  • Year and Date: 2015-09-11
• [Remarks] 【研究成果】青色光受容体が光合成にブレーキをかけることを発見 青い光が光合成装置を守る
  • URL: http://www.lifesci.tohoku.ac.jp/research_ja/45268/