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FRET-Mediated Long-Range Wavelength Transformation by Photoconvertible Fluorescent Proteins as an Efficient Mechanism to Generate Orange-Red Light in Symbiotic Deep Water Corals
Photoconvertible fluorescent proteins (pcRFPs) are a group of fluorophores that undergo an irreversible green-to-red shift in emission colour upon irradiation with near-ultraviolet (near-UV) light. Despite their wide application in biotechnology, the high-level expression of pcRFPs in mesophotic and...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2017
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5535822/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28677653 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms18071174 |
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author | Bollati, Elena Plimmer, Daniel D’Angelo, Cecilia Wiedenmann, Jörg |
author_facet | Bollati, Elena Plimmer, Daniel D’Angelo, Cecilia Wiedenmann, Jörg |
author_sort | Bollati, Elena |
collection | PubMed |
description | Photoconvertible fluorescent proteins (pcRFPs) are a group of fluorophores that undergo an irreversible green-to-red shift in emission colour upon irradiation with near-ultraviolet (near-UV) light. Despite their wide application in biotechnology, the high-level expression of pcRFPs in mesophotic and depth-generalist coral species currently lacks a biological explanation. Additionally, reduced penetration of near-UV wavelengths in water poses the question whether light-driven photoconversion is relevant in the mesophotic zone, or whether a different mechanism is involved in the post-translational pigment modification in vivo. Here, we show in a long-term mesocosm experiment that photoconversion in vivo is entirely dependent on near-UV wavelengths. However, a near-UV intensity equivalent to the mesophotic underwater light field at 80 m depth is sufficient to drive the process in vitro, suggesting that photoconversion can occur near the lower distribution limits of these corals. Furthermore, live coral colonies showed evidence of efficient Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET). Our simulated mesophotic light field maintained the pcRFP pool in a partially photoconverted state in vivo, maximising intra-tetrameric FRET and creating a long-range wavelength conversion system with higher quantum yield than other native RFPs. We hypothesise that efficient conversion of blue wavelengths, abundant at depth, into orange-red light could constitute an adaptation of corals to life in light-limited environments. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5535822 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2017 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-55358222017-08-04 FRET-Mediated Long-Range Wavelength Transformation by Photoconvertible Fluorescent Proteins as an Efficient Mechanism to Generate Orange-Red Light in Symbiotic Deep Water Corals Bollati, Elena Plimmer, Daniel D’Angelo, Cecilia Wiedenmann, Jörg Int J Mol Sci Article Photoconvertible fluorescent proteins (pcRFPs) are a group of fluorophores that undergo an irreversible green-to-red shift in emission colour upon irradiation with near-ultraviolet (near-UV) light. Despite their wide application in biotechnology, the high-level expression of pcRFPs in mesophotic and depth-generalist coral species currently lacks a biological explanation. Additionally, reduced penetration of near-UV wavelengths in water poses the question whether light-driven photoconversion is relevant in the mesophotic zone, or whether a different mechanism is involved in the post-translational pigment modification in vivo. Here, we show in a long-term mesocosm experiment that photoconversion in vivo is entirely dependent on near-UV wavelengths. However, a near-UV intensity equivalent to the mesophotic underwater light field at 80 m depth is sufficient to drive the process in vitro, suggesting that photoconversion can occur near the lower distribution limits of these corals. Furthermore, live coral colonies showed evidence of efficient Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET). Our simulated mesophotic light field maintained the pcRFP pool in a partially photoconverted state in vivo, maximising intra-tetrameric FRET and creating a long-range wavelength conversion system with higher quantum yield than other native RFPs. We hypothesise that efficient conversion of blue wavelengths, abundant at depth, into orange-red light could constitute an adaptation of corals to life in light-limited environments. MDPI 2017-07-04 /pmc/articles/PMC5535822/ /pubmed/28677653 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms18071174 Text en © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Bollati, Elena Plimmer, Daniel D’Angelo, Cecilia Wiedenmann, Jörg FRET-Mediated Long-Range Wavelength Transformation by Photoconvertible Fluorescent Proteins as an Efficient Mechanism to Generate Orange-Red Light in Symbiotic Deep Water Corals |
title | FRET-Mediated Long-Range Wavelength Transformation by Photoconvertible Fluorescent Proteins as an Efficient Mechanism to Generate Orange-Red Light in Symbiotic Deep Water Corals |
title_full | FRET-Mediated Long-Range Wavelength Transformation by Photoconvertible Fluorescent Proteins as an Efficient Mechanism to Generate Orange-Red Light in Symbiotic Deep Water Corals |
title_fullStr | FRET-Mediated Long-Range Wavelength Transformation by Photoconvertible Fluorescent Proteins as an Efficient Mechanism to Generate Orange-Red Light in Symbiotic Deep Water Corals |
title_full_unstemmed | FRET-Mediated Long-Range Wavelength Transformation by Photoconvertible Fluorescent Proteins as an Efficient Mechanism to Generate Orange-Red Light in Symbiotic Deep Water Corals |
title_short | FRET-Mediated Long-Range Wavelength Transformation by Photoconvertible Fluorescent Proteins as an Efficient Mechanism to Generate Orange-Red Light in Symbiotic Deep Water Corals |
title_sort | fret-mediated long-range wavelength transformation by photoconvertible fluorescent proteins as an efficient mechanism to generate orange-red light in symbiotic deep water corals |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5535822/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28677653 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms18071174 |
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