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Physiological responses of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 under rhythmic light variations

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Abstract

Cyanobacteria are challenged by daily fluctuations of light intensities and photoperiod in their natural habitats, which affect the physiology and fitness of cyanobacteria. Circadian rhythms (CRs), an important endogenous process found in all organisms including cyanobacteria, control their physiological activities and helps in coping with 24-h light/dark (LD) cycle. In cyanobacteria, physiological responses under rhythmic ultraviolet radiation (UVR) are poorly studied. Therefore, we studied the changes in photosynthetic pigments, and physiological parameters of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 under UVR and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) of light/dark (LD) oscillations having the combinations of 0, 4:20, 8:16, 12:12, 16:8, 20:4, and 24:24 h. The LD 16:8 enhanced the growth, pigments, proteins, photosynthetic efficiency, and physiology of Synechocystis sp. PCC6803. Continuous light (LL 24) of UVR and PAR exerted negative impact on the photosynthetic pigments, and chlorophyll fluorescence. Significant increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) resulted in loss of plasma membrane integrity followed by decreased viability of cells. The dark phase played a significant role in Synechocystis to withstand the LL 24 under PAR and UVR. This study offers detailed understanding of the physiological responses of the cyanobacterium to changing light environment.

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Acknowledgements

Prashant R. Singh (09/013(0795)/2018-EMR-I) is thankful to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, India for the financial support in the form of junior and senior research fellowships. We thank Dr. Vipin Kumar Singh for his valuable suggestions. The authors are thankful to the Head and Programme Coordinator (CAS), Dept. of Botany and Interdisciplinary School of Life Sciences (ISLS), Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, for providing instrumentation facilities. Incentive grant received from IoE (Scheme No. 6031), Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, to Rajeshwar P. Sinha is highly acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Photobiology and Molecular Microbiology, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, India

    Prashant R. Singh, Jainendra Pathak,  Rajneesh, Haseen Ahmed & Rajeshwar P. Sinha

  2. Department of Botany, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru College (Affiliated to Bundelkhand University, Jhansi), Banda, 210001, India

    Jainendra Pathak

  3. Department of Biology, Emeritus From Friedrich-Alexander University, Neue Str. 9, 91096, Möhrendorf, Germany

    Donat-P. Häder

  4. University Center for Research and Development (UCRD), Chandigarh University, Chandigarh, India

    Rajeshwar P. Sinha

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PRS: performed the experiments, analyzed the experimental results, statistical analysis and wrote the manuscript; JP: helped in writing the paper, data analysis and critically reviewed the manuscript; Rajneesh and HA: helped in the experimental work; DPH: suggested the research idea and reviewed the manuscript; RPS: designed the experiments, provided laboratory facilities, and reviewed the manuscript. All the authors accepted the final version of our manuscript.

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Singh, P.R., Pathak, J., Rajneesh et al. Physiological responses of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 under rhythmic light variations. Photochem Photobiol Sci 22, 2055–2069 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43630-023-00429-x

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