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Unusual features in the photosynthetic machinery of Halorhodospira halochloris DSM 1059 revealed by complete genome sequencing

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Abstract

Halorhodospira halochloris is an anaerobic, halophilic, purple photosynthetic bacterium belonging to γ-Proteobacteria. H. halochloris is also characteristic as a thermophilic phototrophic isolate producing bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) b. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of H. halochloris DSM 1059. The genetic arrangement for this bacterium’s photosynthetic apparatus is of particular interest; its genome contains two sets of puf operons encoding the reaction center and core light-harvesting 1 (LH1) complexes having almost identical nucleotide sequences (e.g., 98.8–99.9% of nucleotide identities between two sets of pufLM genes, but 100% of deduced amino acid sequence identities). This duplication of photosynthetic genes may provide a glimpse at natural selection in action. The β-polypeptides of the LH1 complex in purple bacteria usually contain two histidine residues to bind BChl a; however, those of H. halochloris were revealed to have four histidine residues, indicating unusual pigment organization in the LH1 complex of this species. Like in other BChl b-producing phototrophs, the genome of H. halochloris lacks the divinyl reductase genes bciA and bciB. The phylogeny of chlorophyllide a oxidoreductase, which catalyzes committed steps in the synthesis of BChl a and BChl b, indicates that evolution toward BChl b production is convergent. Geranylgeranyl reductase (BchP) of H. halochloris has an insertion region in its primary structure, which could be important for its unusual sequential reduction reactions.

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Abbreviations

BChl:

Bacteriochlorophyll

COR:

Chlorophyllide a oxidoreductase

LH1:

Light harvesting 1

PGC:

Photosynthetic gene cluster

RC:

Reaction center

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mr. Keita Mori for the help in preparing the genomic DNA. This work was partially supported by JSPS KAKENHI [Grant Numbers: JP26840099 and JP17H05231 (to Y.T.), JP15H05578 (to Y.H.), and JP17H06436 (to H.T.)].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research and Development Center for Marine Biosciences, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Kanagawa, 237-0061, Japan

    Yusuke Tsukatani

  2. Department of Environmental and Life Sciences, Toyohashi University of Technology, Aichi, 441-8580, Japan

    Yuu Hirose & Chinatsu Yonekawa

  3. Department of Medical Biochemistry, Kurume University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, 830-0011, Japan

    Jiro Harada

  4. Graduate School of Life Sciences, Ritsumeikan University, Shiga, 525-8577, Japan

    Hitoshi Tamiaki

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  1. Yusuke Tsukatani
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  2. Yuu Hirose
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  3. Jiro Harada
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  4. Chinatsu Yonekawa
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  5. Hitoshi Tamiaki
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Correspondence to Yusuke Tsukatani or Yuu Hirose.

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Tsukatani, Y., Hirose, Y., Harada, J. et al. Unusual features in the photosynthetic machinery of Halorhodospira halochloris DSM 1059 revealed by complete genome sequencing. Photosynth Res 140, 311–319 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-019-00613-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-019-00613-0

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