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Publications

Journal Article Epublish

PubMed: 40087266 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57809-3

Phototropin connects blue light perception to starch metabolism in green algae.

Nat Commun 16(1):2545

Authors: Yizhong Yuan, Anthony A Iannetta, Minjae Kim, Patric W Sadecki, Marius Arend, Angeliki Tsichla, M Águila Ruiz-Sola, Georgios Kepesidis, Denis Falconet, Emmanuel Thevenon, Marianne Tardif, Sabine Brugière, Yohann Couté, Jean Philippe Kleman, Irina Sizova, Marion Schilling, Juliette Jouhet, Peter Hegemann, Yonghua Li-Beisson, Zoran Nikoloski, Olivier Bastien, Leslie M Hicks, Dimitris Petroutsos

Affiliations

  • Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, CEA, INRAE, IRIG-LPCV, Grenoble, France.
  • Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA, USA.
  • Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
  • Institute de Biosciences et Biotechnologies Aix-Marseille, Aix Marseille University, CEA, CNRS, BIAM, Saint Paul-Lez-Durance, France.
  • Bioinformatics Department, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
  • Systems Biology and Mathematical Modeling Group, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam, Germany.
  • Bioinformatics and Mathematical Modeling Department, Center of Plant Systems Biology and Biotechnology, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
  • Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
  • Instituto de Bioquímica Vegetal y Fotosíntesis, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain.
  • Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, USA.
  • Université Grenoble Alpes, INSERM, CEA, UA13 BGE, CNRS, CEA, FR2048, Grenoble, France.
  • Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, CEA, IBS, Grenoble, France.
  • Institute of Biology, Experimental Biophysics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
  • Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, CEA, INRAE, IRIG-LPCV, Grenoble, France.
  • Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.

Abstract

In photosynthetic organisms, light acts as an environmental signal to control their development and physiology, as well as energy source to drive the conversion of CO into carbohydrates used for growth or storage. The main storage carbohydrate in green algae is starch, which accumulates during the day and is broken down at night to meet cellular energy demands. The signaling role of light quality in the regulation of starch accumulation remains unexplored. Here, we identify PHOTOTROPIN-MEDIATED SIGNALING KINASE 1 (PMSK1) as a key regulator of starch metabolism in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. In its phosphorylated form (PMSK1-P), it activates GLYCERALDEHYDE-3-PHOSPHATE DEHYDROGENASE (GAP1), promoting starch biosynthesis. We show that blue light, perceived by PHOTOTROPIN, induces PMSK1 dephosphorylation that in turn represses GAP1 mRNA levels and reduces starch accumulation. These findings reveal a previously uncharacterized blue light-mediated signaling pathway that advances our understanding of photoreceptor-controlled carbon metabolism in microalgae.

MeSH

Starch, Phototropins, Biological Science Disciplines, Perception, Carbohydrates