Abstract
Phycobilisomes are the complex and highly efficient light-harvesting antenna systems of cyanobacteria, glaucocystophyte algae and red algae. In the glaucocystophyte Cyanophora paradoxa, seven genes for (chromophoric) phycobilisome components are known thus far, which all reside on the cyanelle genome. Here, we report the sequence of apcC, specifying the precursor to the colorless polypeptide Lc 7.8, the first core linker reported for a eukaryote. The precursor was efficiently imported in vitro into isolated cyanelles. Fractionation into thylakoid membranes and stroma and into intact phycobilisomes and soluble proteins, respectively, indicated a low but significant incorporation of the imported linker polypeptide into the phycobilisomes.
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We are grateful for support through a grant (P14573-MOB, to W.L.) from the Austrian ″Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung″.
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Communicated by F.-A. Wollman
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Steiner, J.M., Pompe, J.A. & Löffelhardt, W. Characterization of apcC, the nuclear gene for the phycobilisome core linker polypeptide Lc 7.8 from the glaucocystophyte alga Cyanophora paradoxa. Import of the precursor into isolated cyanelles and integration of the mature protein into intact phycobilisomes. Curr Genet 44, 132–137 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00294-003-0433-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00294-003-0433-0