J Integr Plant Biol. ›› 2010, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (10): 868-878.DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7909.2010.00993.x

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Coordinated Regulation of Gene Expression for Carotenoid Metabolism in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Tian-Hu Sun1, Cheng-Qian Liu1, Yuan-Yuan Hui1, Wen-Kai Wu2, Zhi-Gang Zhou2 and Shan Lu1,3,*   

  1. 1State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
    2College of Fisheries and Life Science, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
    3Discipline Crossing Center, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
  • Received:2010-04-11 Accepted:2010-08-18 Published:2010-10-01
  • About author:*Corresponding author Tel: +86 25 8368 6217; Fax: +86 25 8359 2705; E-mail: shanlu@nju.edu.cn

Abstract:

Carotenoids are important plant pigments for both light harvesting and photooxidation protection. Using the model system of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, we characterized the regulation of gene expression for carotenoid metabolism by quantifying changes in the transcript abundance of dxs, dxr and ipi in the plastidic methylerythritol phosphate pathway and of ggps, psy, pds, lcyb and bchy, directly involved in carotenoid metabolism, under different photoperiod, light and metabolite treatments. The expression of these genes fluctuated with light/dark shifting. Light treatment also promoted the accumulation of transcripts of all these genes. Of the genes studied, dxs, ggps and lcyb displayed the typical circadian pattern by retaining a rhythmic fluctuation of transcript abundance under both constant light and constant dark entrainments. The expression of these genes could also be regulated by metabolic intermediates. For example, ggps was significantly suppressed by a geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate supplement and ipi was upregulated by isopentenyl pyrophosphate. Furthermore, CrOr, a C. reinhardtii homolog of the recently characterized Or gene that accounts for carotenoid accumulation, also showed co-expression with carotenoid biosynthetic genes such as pds and lcyb. Our data suggest a coordinated regulation on carotenoid metabolism in C. reinhardtii at the transcriptional level.

Sun TH, Liu CQ, Hui YY, Wu WK, Zhou ZG, Lu S (2010) Coordinated regulation of gene expression for carotenoid metabolism in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. J. Integr. Plant Biol. 52(10), 868–878.

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