Inactivation of the petE gene for plastocyanin lowers photosynthetic capacity and exacerbates chilling-induced photoinhibition in the cyanobacterium Synechococcus

We describe the identification and expression of a petE gene in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7942, a cyanobacterium previously thought to lack plastocyanin. The petE gene is a 420-bp open reading frame that encodes a protein 70 to 75% similar to plastocyanins from other cyanobacteria. Synechococcus possesses a single genomic copy of petE located immediately upstream of the clpB gene. It is transcribed as a single mRNA (550 bases) and, in contrast to most other photobionts, the level of petE expression in Synechococcus is unaffected by variable copper concentrations during acclimated growth. Inactivation of petE does not prevent photoautotrophic growth, but does induce a dramatic increase in mRNA for the alternative electron carrier cytochrome c(6). Despite this adjustment, loss of plastocyanin results in slower growth, lower photosystem I content, and a decreased maximum capacity for photosynthetic electron transport. The mutant is also more susceptible to chilling-induced photoinhibition during a shift from 37 to 25 degrees C, at which temperature its inherently lower photosynthetic capacity exacerbates the normal slowing of electron transfer reactions at low temperatures. Under similar conditions, the amount of petE message in the wild type decreases by 50% in the 1st h, but then increases dramatically to almost three times the 37 degrees C level by 9 h.