Rhodopsin gene expression regulated by the light dark cycle, light spectrum and light intensity in the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum.

ABSTRACT: The proton pump rhodopsin is widely found in marine bacteria and archaea, where it functions to capture light energy and convert it to ATP. While found in several lineages of dinoflagellates, this gene has not been studied in Prorocentrales species and whether it functionally tunes to light spectra and intensities as in bacteria remains unclear. Here we identified and characterized this gene in the bloom-forming Prorocentrum donghaiense. It is a 7-helix transmembrane polypeptide containing conserved domains and critical amino acid residues of PPR. This gene is phylogenetically affiliated to the xanthorhodopsin clade, but seems to have a distinct evolutionary origin. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR showed that in regular cultures, the transcript abundance of the gene exhibited a clea

SUBMITTER: Shi X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4451421 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature