Temperature-scan cryocrystallography reveals reaction intermediates in bacteriophytochrome.

ABSTRACT: Light is a fundamental signal that regulates important physiological processes such as development and circadian rhythm in living organisms. Phytochromes form a major family of photoreceptors responsible for red light perception in plants, fungi and bacteria. They undergo reversible photoconversion between red-absorbing (Pr) and far-red-absorbing (Pfr) states, thereby ultimately converting a light signal into a distinct biological signal that mediates subsequent cellular responses. Several structures of microbial phytochromes have been determined in their dark-adapted Pr or Pfr states. However, the structural nature of initial photochemical events has not been characterized by crystallography. Here we report the crystal structures of three intermediates in the photoreaction of Pseudomonas

SUBMITTER: Yang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3337037 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature