Copyright © 2003, The American Society for Plant
Biologists An Anaplerotic Role for Mitochondrial Carbonic Anhydrase in
Chlamydomonas
reinhardtii1 * Corresponding author; e-mail
giordano/at/unian.it;
fax 39–071–220–4650.
2These authors contributed equally to this paper. Received March 20, 2003; Revised April 24, 2003; Accepted May 6, 2003. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. | ||||
Abstract Previous studies of the mitochondrial carbonic anhydrase (mtCA) of
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii showed that expression of the two genes
encoding this enzyme activity required photosynthetically active radiation and
a low CO2 concentration. These studies suggested that the mtCA was
involved in the inorganic carbon-concentrating mechanism. We have now shown
that the expression of the mtCA at low CO2 concentrations decreases
when the external NH4+ concentration decreases, to the
point of being undetectable when NH4+ supply restricts
the rate of photoautotrophic growth. The expression of mtCA can also be
induced at supra-atmospheric partial pressure of CO2 by increasing
the NH4+ concentration in the growth medium. Conditions
that favor mtCA expression usually also stimulate anaplerosis. We therefore
propose that the mtCA is involved in supplying HCO3- for
anaplerotic assimilation catalyzed by phosphoenolpyruvate
carboxylase, which provides C skeletons for N assimilation under some
circumstances. | ||||
In algae and plants, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle plays a fundamental
biosynthetic role (Beardall and Raven,
1990). The removal of intermediates from this cycle to feed other
biosynthetic pathways (of which amino acid synthesis is often quantitatively
the most important) requires that the cycle is replenished of its
intermediates via anaplerotic reactions
(Beardall and Raven, 1990;
Norici and Giordano, 2002).
The anaplerotic reactions make use of inorganic carbon to build the C4
compounds in demand in the TCA cycle, via β-carboxylation
(Beardall and Raven, 1990;
Norici and Giordano, 2002).
The provision of inorganic carbon for these reactions can be crucial to
sustain amino acid and protein synthesis (among others;
Norici and Giordano, 2002).
Anaplerotic β-carboxylation therefore represents a pivotal intersection
among the metabolisms of C and N. Consequently, mechanisms must exist to
ensure that there is sufficient inorganic carbon to maintain anaplerosis at an
appropriate rate, especially in conditions in which the dissolved inorganic
carbon (DIC) in the cytosol may be limited, competition with other
DIC-requiring pathways (mostly photosynthesis) is significant, and N
assimilation is fast. Respiration and photorespiration are conveniently
located (spatially and functionally) sources of CO2 to supply
reactions that replenish the TCA cycle. A mechanism that recovers respiratory
CO2 would therefore be a very effective way to ensure an
appropriate flux of C to the TCA cycle via anaplerosis. However, respiration
and photorespiration produce DIC in the form of CO2, whereas many
β-carboxylases such as phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPc)
and pyruvate carboxylase (PC) require HCO3- (Chollet et al., 1996;
Norici and Giordano, 2002).
Thus, if the uncatalyzed rate of CO2 conversion to
HCO3- is not sufficiently high, enzymatic hydration of
CO2 to HCO3- may be necessary
(Raven and Newman, 1994;
Huang and Chapman, 2002).
Reactions of this sort are catalyzed by carbonic anhydrases (CAs), whose
activity is widespread in photosynthetic organisms
(Badger and Price, 1994;
Sültemeyer, 1998;
Moroney et al., 2001;
Badger et al., 2002). Although a large number of papers has been published on photosynthetic roles of CAs, very few studies (Raven and Newman, 1994; Raven, 1995; Huang and Chapman, 2002) have considered the possibility that CAs are involved in the supply of C in non-photosynthetic biosynthetic pathways. In this paper, we investigate a possible role of CAs in NH4+ assimilation, using the model organism Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a unicellular green alga. C. reinhardtii, one of the best-investigated eukaryotic algae with respect to genetics, cell biology, biochemistry, and physiology (Harris, 2001), has CAs in four extra- and intracellular locations. The extracellular CA activity is catalyzed by two α-CAs (pCA1 and pCA2) encoded by two similar genes (Spalding, 1998). Intracellularly, another α-CA (CAH3) is expressed in the thylakoid lumen (Karlsson et al., 1998; van Hunnik et al., 2001; Villarejo et al., 2002). A third CA is associated with the chloroplast envelope and is probably involved in DIC transport into the plastid stroma as part of the CO2-concentrating mechanism (CCM; Villarejo et al., 2001). A fourth CA is present in the mitochondrial matrix (mtCA); it is a β-CA, it is encoded by two almost identical genes (Eriksson et al., 1996), and it is expressed in the light at low external DIC concentrations (Villand et al., 1997; Eriksson et al., 1998). The role of the mtCA has been suggested as buffering matrix H+ upon the initiation of photorespiration when the cells are transferred from high to low CO2 conditions (Eriksson et al., 1996). Raven (2001) has suggested a role, with (hypothesized) HCO3- channels in the inner mitochondrial membrane, in limiting loss to medium of photorespired (and respired) CO2 in the light and in promoting recycling of this CO2 to photosynthetic CO2. In green algae, the provision of carbon skeletons used in N assimilation involves the use of PEPc, with 0.30 to 0.35 mol HCO3- fixed per mol NH4+ assimilated (Raven and Farquhar, 1990; Vanlerberghe et al., 1990). An involvement of CA in the provision of this HCO3- requires that the inorganic carbon is supplied as CO2, and that the CO2 to HCO3- conversion occurs in a small volume. By small here is meant a volume in which the uncatalyzed rate of CO2 conversion to HCO3- is insufficient to supply HCO3- at the rate required by NH4+ assimilation. PEPc is a cytosolic enzyme, so the mechanism proposed by Raven (2001) for the conversion of photorespiratory and respiratory CO2 to HCO3- in the mitochondrial matrix using mtCA with efflux of the resulting HCO3- to the cytosol could be involved in NH4+ assimilation. The work reported here involves determination of the effects of growth at a range of NH4+ concentrations on the expression of mtCA and proposes an explanation for the observed pattern of mtCA expression. The experiments were planned in the context of known interactions between C and N metabolism in algae and, especially, interactions between N supply and expression of CCMs (Beardall et al., 1991, 1998; Giordano and Hell, 2001; Beardall and Giordano, 2002). | ||||
RESULTS Effect of C and N Growth Regimes on C and N Assimilation Growth of C. reinhardtii CC-125 in air was no higher at 10
mm NH4+ than at 1 mm NH4+, but was considerably lower at 0.1 mm NH4+ (Table
I). By contrast, cell volume, N per cell, and protein per cell all
increased with NH4+ concentration over the complete
range of NH4+ concentrations used for growth
(Table I), as did
light-saturated photosynthetic rate and dark respiration rate
(Table II). However, the C to N
ratio was the same for 1 mm as for 10 mm NH4+-grown cells
(Table I). This shows that
there are parallel increases in the rates of net C and N acquisition as
NH4+ increases from 1 to 10 mm producing
larger cells with the same generation time. At 0.1 mm NH4+, the rate of net N acquisition is decreased more
than that of C relative to the rate at 1 mm NH4+. For cells grown in 5% (v/v) CO2, the
growth rate in 0.1 mm NH4+ is the same as
that of cells grown in air, but the growth rates in 5% (v/v) CO2 are higher than those in air for the two higher NH4+ concentrations (Table I). For
cells grown in air, the Gln synthetase activity was circa 2 order of
magnitudes higher when the medium contained 1 or 10 mm NH4+ than when the concentration was 0.1 mm NH4+ (Table
I). This is consistent with the higher rates of primary
NH4+ assimilation at the two higher
NH4+ concentrations, although it is likely that the
recycling of NH4+ from the photorespiratory carbon
oxidation cycle is greater at the lowest NH4+ concentration, because the data in Table
II suggest less effective CCM functioning, permitting more
expression of Rubisco oxygenase activity, at low
NH4+.β-Carboxylases The higher rate of NH4+ assimilation on a cell basis,
with increasing external NH4+, requires a higher rate of
anaplerotic DIC fixation for the synthesis of C skeletons. Most of this DIC is
generally held to be fixed by PEPc, although
Table I shows data for PC
activities that are higher than those of PEPc. In agreement with anaplerotic
roles, Table I shows that PEPc
activity per cell, for cultures grown at air levels of CO2,
increases with NH4+ concentration for growth and hence
with the requirement for anaplerotic fixation of DIC
(Table III), over the entire
range tested.The Intracellular DIC System The inorganic carbon substrate for PEPc and PC is
HCO3- (Norici and
Giordano, 2002). Table
III shows the concentration of CO2 required in the
steady state to generate HCO3- at the rate required for
anaplerotic PEPc activity in the cytosol, if uncatalyzed conversion of
CO2 occurs either in the matrix or in the cytosol. The calculations
use the assumptions made by Raven
(2001), modified as shown in
the legend to Table III.
Uncatalyzed HCO3- production at the required rate in the
cytosol (which lacks CA) involves a steady-state CO2 concentration,
which is about 1 order of magnitude higher for 1 and 10 mm NH4+-grown cells than for 0.1 mm NH4+-grown cells. The same is true for uncatalyzed
HCO3- production in the matrix, where, however, the
absolute steady-state CO2 concentrations needed are much
higher.For low-CO2 (air)-grown cells, a wide range of values has been suggested for cytosolic steady-state CO2 concentration (Spalding and Portis, 1985; Yokota et al., 1987; Raven, 1997; Thoms et al., 2001). If no active transport processes occurs between the cytosol and Rubisco, a realistic value for cytosolic CO2 would be in the order of 50 to 100 μm. Table III shows how this amount of cytosolic CO2 would be sufficient to support anaplerotic β-carboxylation in the cytosol in the cells cultured at 0.1 mm NH4+, but not in the algae grown at 1 and 10 mm NH4+. If β-carboxylation occurs in the matrix, the required CO2 concentration for uncatalyzed CO2 production is that for the matrix, because HCO3- uptake by mitochondria from the cytosol is unlikely (Nicholls and Ferguson, 2002). Our measurements on isolated mitochondria exclude the presence of PEPc activity in these organelles (data not shown), however, it is possible that at least part of the PC activity measured in whole cells is located in mitochondria. This would be in agreement with the known localization of PC in many organisms (e.g., Jelenska et al., 2001; Liao and Freedman, 2001; Liu et al., 2002), although cytosolic PCs are also present in yeasts such as Brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Huet et al., 2000). If the steady-state CO2 concentration in the matrix of air-grown cells at all three NH4+ concentrations is close to the lower 0.1 mm NH4+ value showed in Table III (with the higher respiration rate per cell offset by the larger cell, and possibly mitochondrial volumes at higher NH4+ concentrations for growth; Schötz et al., 1972; Blank and Arnold, 1980; Blank et al., 1980; Ehana et al., 1995), then uncatalyzed HCO3- production would not be sufficient at the two higher NH4+ concentrations. Carbonic Anydrases If the DIC for anaplerotic fixation is supplied as CO2 from the
medium or from photorespiration or dark respiration, then it is possible that
CA activity is needed to generate HCO3-. Catalyzed
CO2 conversion would also be necessary if DIC is supplied as both
CO2 and HCO3-, but
HCO3- supply occurs at a rate lower than the rate of
use. PEPc is located in the cytosol, so that any CA involved in generating
HCO3- from CO2 must be in the cytosol or in a
compartment that is supplied with CO2 and from which
HCO3- can move to the cytosol. Neither the periplasmic
nor the lumenal CAs could do this (Raven,
1997). The improbability of an anaplerotic role for these two CAs
is confirmed by our data: Whereas the N assimilation rate increased over the
entire range of N concentrations used for growth, pCA activity had the same
value for 1 and 10 mm NH4+-grown cells
(Table I); expression of
lumenal CA was also very little affected by the N growth regime
(Fig. 1). The limited
variability of lumenal CA in response to the N growth regime may be linked to
the observation of Villarejo et al.
(2002), who reported an
apparent absolute requirement for active lumenal CA for growth at low N
concentrations. The plastid envelope CA has not been sufficiently investigated
to determine whether it could be involved. However, the mtCA could use
matrix-generated CO2 to provide anaplerotic carboxylases with
HCO3-. The mtCA of air-acclimated cells, 24 h after
transfer to air from 5% (v/v) CO2, shows an appropriate response
(Fig. 2), with essentially no
enzyme message or protein present in cells grown at 0.1 mm NH4+ but with both message and protein present in cells
grown with 1 and 10 mm NH4+.
Figure 3 shows that expression
of mtCA protein occurs even at high CO2 (0.2% [v/v] in air), if
sufficient NH4+ (100 mm) is present.Photosynthesis Table II shows that the
NH4+ concentration supplied for growth has consequences
for the affinity for DIC in photosynthesis. The half-saturation value for DIC
is twice as high at 0.1 mm NH4+ as at 1
mm NH4+, with no significant further effect
at 10 mm NH4+. The results of this study are
in general agreement with earlier work
(Eriksson et al., 1996;
Geraghty and Spalding, 1996;
Villand et al., 1997), showing
that mtCA was expressed in cells grown under air levels of CO2, but
not under high CO2 levels. It also agrees with the unpublished work
on mtCA-deficient mutants cited by Sültemeyer
(1998), showing that the CCM
was disabled in mtCA-deficient mutants. However, it is significant that,
despite the lower DIC affinity and the much lower initial slope of
photosynthetic rate increase per unit increase in DIC concentration, the DIC
compensation concentration and DIC saturation points are lower for the 0.1
mm NH4+ cells than those grown at higher
NH4+ concentrations. | ||||
DISCUSSION Interactions between Assimilation of Inorganic C and Assimilation of
Inorganic N The lowest NH4+ concentration (0.1 mm)
used in the experiments presented in Tables
I through
III led to a significantly
higher C to N ratio in the cells than did the two higher concentrations of
NH4+, at least for the low CO2-grown cells;
no data are available for the cells grown at high CO2. Although
this lowest NH4+ concentration used provided evidence of
N limitation of growth, the highest NH4+ concentration
did not yield NH4+ toxicity because there was no
decrease in growth rate relative to 1 mm NH4+ for cells grown in air (Table
I). Under the light-saturated conditions of the experiments, any
energy cost of recycling of NH3/NH4+ at high
external NH4+ concentrations
(Raven, 1980; Kleiner,
1985a,
1985b; Britto et al.,
2001,
2002;
Kronzucker et al., 2001) does
not impact upon growth rate. The supply of CO2 was limiting for
growth in the cultures equilibrated with air at the two higher
NH4+ concentrations, but not when the
NH4+concentration for growth was 0.1 mm.The Role of C and N Supply in the Regulation of mtCA Expression and
Implications for the Role of mtCA in the Provision of DIC to the Cytosol The data presented here show that the expression of mtCA is under the
control of NH4+ supply as well as of DIC supply, because
expression of mtCA at low DIC concentrations for growth is prevented if the
NH4+ concentration is also low, i.e. 0.1 mm (Fig. 2), and expression of
mtCA can occur even in 0.2% (v/v) CO2 in air if the
NH4+ concentration is very high, i.e. 100 mm (Fig. 3). The fact that the
expression of mtCA can be modulated by changing the relative amounts of C and
N is compatible with an involvement of this enzyme in anaplerosis. However,
anaplerosis is generally believed to be initiated from the cytosol, where the
initial β-carboxylation occurs
(Norici and Giordano, 2002).
The HCO3- generated in the matrix by mtCA from
respiratory/photorespiratory CO2 would then have to be transferred
to the cytosol. The model presented by Raven
(2001) requires that the
HCO3- produced with the catalysis of mtCA leaves the
mitochondria via HCO3- channels in the inner
mitochondrial membrane. Anion channels in mitochondrial inner membranes are
known from a number of organisms. Much of this work has involved chloride as
the only anion tested (Fernandez-Sala et
al., 1999; Kikinska et al.,
2000). However, it is known that a number of anion channels in the
plasmalemma of metazoa can transport bicarbonate as well as chloride
(Kunzelman et al., 1991;
Paulsen et al., 1994;
Ishikawa, 1996). Furthermore,
there is direct evidence for bicarbonate flux across the inner mitochondrial
membrane (Selwyn and Walker,
1977; Simpson,
1983; Gainutdinov et al.,
1985). These data confirm that the mitochondrial bicarbonate
channel aspect of the hypothesis of Raven
(2001) is plausible. If,
however, β-carboxylation takes place in the mitochondria, bicarbonate
transport across the mitochondrial membranes is not required to supply
anaplerosis with DIC.Anaplerotic HCO3- Supply in Cells Grown at High
CO2 Concentrations Growth of C. reinhardtii at high (i.e. 5% [v/v]) CO2 levels corresponds to equilibrium CO2 concentrations in a solution
of 1 to 2 mm (varying with temperature). With the permeability
coefficients of the C. reinhardtii plasmalemma found by
Sültemeyer and Rinast
(1996), the steady-state
concentrations of CO2 in all cell compartments during
photosynthesis with diffusive CO2 entry for the cells grown at high
CO2 would be within 10% of the external concentration. Under these
conditions, the expression of mtCA was not observed, and the supply of
HCO3- to PEPc in providing C skeletons for
NH4+ assimilation cannot depend on mtCA activity. Using
the values in Table III, it is
clear that cultures in high CO2 conditions yield intracellular
CO2 concentrations in either light or dark that give uncatalyzed
rates of HCO3- production in either the cytosol (at all
NH4+ concentrations) or the matrix (for 0.1
mm NH4+) in excess of those needed for
anaplerotic PEPc activity. Although the uncatalyzed rate of
HCO3- production in the matrix is insufficient to meet
the requirements of PEPc at the two high NH4+ concentrations, this shortfall could readily be met by uncatalyzed cytosolic
HCO3- production. However, if the anaplerotic
carboxylase is mitochondrial, then HCO3- supply at the
two higher NH4+ concentrations could not be maintained
either by uncatalyzed production in the matrix
(Table III) or by supply, via
anion channels, of HCO3- produced by uncatalyzed
conversion of CO2 in the cytosol.The Role of mtCA in the Assimilation of NH4+ in
Cells Grown at Low CO2 Concentrations Two main scenarios can be envisaged for low CO2-grown cells: (a)
the CCM delivers HCO3- to the cytosol; (b) the CCM
delivers CO2 to the cytosol.Case 1: HCO3- Is the DIC Species Delivered to
the Cytosol from the Medium by the CCM Under these conditions, delivery to the cytosol of the
HCO3- generated by uncatalyzed (0.1 mm NH4+) or mtCA-catalyzed (1 and 10 mm NH4+) hydroxylation of CO2 would be a
relatively minor component of HCO3- supply to the
cytosol. At light saturation, HCO3- flux to the cytosol
from DIC in the medium is 1 order of magnitude greater than the flux that
could occur from the mitochondrial matrix in C. reinhardtii cells
(Raven, 2001). This suggests
that any HCO3- produced in the mitochondrial matrix and
transported to the cytosol would not be significant, provided that
HCO3- uptake systems at the chloroplast envelope do not
scavenge cytosolic HCO3- to the point of reducing it
below the requirement of PEPc. Such a situation, although unlikely, cannot be
excluded for the cells cultured at 1 and 10 mm NH4+, whose growth was DIC-limited and photosynthesis
(saturation [CO2] = 150 and 214 μm, respectively), at
the CO2 levels found in air, was strongly DIC-limited at saturating
light (Table II; air
CO2 = 360 μmol mol-1 ≈ 12.5 μm, with
a Henry's constant, KH = 0.03458, 25°C, in freshwater). It is
possible that cells grown in air use mtCA for NH4+ assimilation with PEPc as the anaplerotic carboxylase in the dark phase of the
natural light cycle, when the CCM activity is greatly diminished or absent.
Although the mtCA is only produced in the light, the mtCA produced in the
light phase of the natural light-dark cycle would remain significantly
functional during the dark phase. A crucial requirement of this suggestion is
that NH4+ (more generally, inorganic N) assimilation
shall occur in the dark phase of the diel cycle in C. reinhardtii. It
appears that the assimilation of NH4+ in the dark phase
is most likely to occur when NH4+ availability is low
(Kates and Jones, 1967;
Jones et al., 1968;
Weger et al., 1990), i.e. the
conditions under which mtCA expression in air-grown C. reinhardtii cells is minimal. Further work is needed, using C. reinhardtii growing at air levels of CO2 in a range of
NH4+ concentrations with light-dark cycles, to test this
suggestion as to the role of mtCA in NH4+ assimilation.For a mitochondrial carboxylase in cells growing in air, a role for mtCA in supplying HCO3- in the matrix can readily be seen for cells growing in 1 or 10 mm NH4+. The mtCA activity is needed because the uncatalyzed rate of conversion of CO2 to HCO3- is much too slow to supply the carboxylase with HCO3- (Table I), and the transfer of HCO3- from the cytosol to the matrix via anion channels would not yield an adequate steady-state HCO3- concentration in the matrix (see “Results”). For cells growing in 0.1 mm NH4+, with negligible mtCA expression, carboxylase function requires uncatlayzed HCO3- production in the matrix at 10 times the rate shown in Table III, i.e. a 10 times higher steady-state concentration of CO2 in the matrix resulting from a 10 times higher rate of mitochondrial decarboxylation (see “Materials and Methods”). A contribution to such an increase could result from faster photorespiration with a less effective CCM in cells growing in 1 mm NH4+ (Table II). Case 2: CO2 Is the DIC Species Delivered to the Cytosol
from the Medium by the CCM Such a mechanism of inorganic C delivery to the cytosol is consistent with
the models of the eukaryotic algal CCM presented by Thoms et al.
(2001) and the conclusion of
Palmqvist et al. (1990). In
this case, a carbonic-anhydrase-like activity must be present in the
plasmalemma to convert HCO3- to CO2 when
HCO3- is the form of inorganic C taken up from the
medium. Because the plastid of C. reinhardtii can accumulate DIC
(Amoroso et al., 1998), it is
not possible to use Rubisco kinetics to estimate the steady-state
CO2 concentration in the cytosol during photosynthesis by
air-acclimated cells. Certainly a value of (50 to) 100 μm would
be an upper limit, because this concentration could, without further DIC
accumulation into the plastid, account for the carboxylase to oxygenase
activity ratio of Rubisco in air-grown C. reinhardtii expressing a
CCM (see Raven, 2001). Such a
steady-state CO2 concentration would account for the PEPc activity
required in N assimilation in air-grown C. reinhardtii with 0.1
mm NH4+ using only uncatalyzed conversion of
CO2 to HCO3- in the cytosol
(Table III). However, such
uncatalyzed conversion would not be adequate for anaplerotic PEPc activity at
the two higher NH4+ concentrations
(Table III).This alternative model for the CCM of C. reinhardtii could thus provide a rationale for the involvement of mtCA in supplying HCO3- to PEPc for NH4+ assimilation in air-grown cells at 1 and 10 mm NH4+ but not with 0.1 mm NH4+ (provided the steady-state CO2 concentration in the light is 50–100 μm), nor at any NH4+ concentration for growth at 5% (v/v) CO2 with diffusive CO2 entry. | ||||
MATERIALS AND METHODS Cultures Chlamydomonas reinhardtii CC-125 cells were cultured at 25°C
in continuous light (100 μmol m-2 s-1, 400–700
nm) in a minimal medium based on the recipe of Sueoka
(1960), with the trace element
composition modified according to Hutner et al.
(1950). Nitrogen was added as
NH4Cl at 0.1, 1, or 10 mm, unless otherwise stated. To
achieve high CO2 concentrations, the cultures were bubbled with air
enriched with CO2 to 5% by volume (50 mmol CO2 mol-1 total gas). Low CO2 concentrations were attained
by bubbling the cultures with air (0.36 mmol CO2 mol-1 total gas). Cells were acclimated to each N and CO2 concentration
for at least 3 weeks before the experiments, except in the case of the
experiments on induction of the CCM by changing from high to low
CO2 in the gas stream. All experiments were carried out on cells in
the mid-exponential growth phase.Growth was followed on three different cultures by daily counts using a Burker hemocytometer. The cell volume and surface area were determined from the longitudinal and transverse axes of 50 cells from each culture with an ocular micrometer, using a graduated slide as a reference. C. reinhardtii cell volume (V) was calculated using the equation for a prolate ellipsoid, V = π/6(ab2), where a and b are, respectively, the major (longitudinal) and minor (transverse) radii of the cell (Hillebrand et al., 1999). Cell Constituents Chlorophyll was extracted in a mixture of 9 volumes of acetone and 1 volume
of water and was determined according to Jeffrey and Humphrey
(1975). Total proteins were
measured as described by Peterson
(1977); amino acids were
determined from crude extracts as described by Stocchi et al.
(1989). The starch content of
cells was estimated enzymatically using a commercial kit (kit 207748, Roche
Diagnostics, Armstadt, Germany). Total C and N were measured on lyophilized
cells using a CHN elemental analyzer (FlashEA 1112, ThermoFinnegan, Waltham,
MA). The data are expressed as the mean ± sd calculated from
triplicates.Gas-Exchange Measurements Photosynthetic O2 evolution was measured using an O2 electrode system (Chloroview 2, Hansatech, Kings Lynn, Norfolk, UK). Cells
were harvested by centrifugation at 1,200g for 10 min and washed in
DIC-free growth medium. All experiments were carried out at a cell density of
2 × 106 cells mL-1 at a temperature of 25°C
and with a photon flux density (400–700 nm) of 100 μmol photons
m-2 s-1. The measurements were started with a dissolved
O2 concentration equivalent to 20% of the air equilibrium value and
were performed according to Giordano et al.
(2000). Respiratory rates were
determined by measuring O2 consumption in the dark in the same
system (Giordano et al.,
2000). The results are shown as the mean ± sd of
measurements obtained with triplicates.Extraction and Assay of Enzymes Cells in the mid-exponential phase of growth were harvested by
centrifugation at 1,200g for 10 min and were resuspended in
extraction medium as described by Norici et al.
(2002). The samples were
sonicated for three cycles of 20 s each at 12 J (Soniprep 150, MSE Sanyo,
Loughborough, UK) and then centrifuged at 12,000g for 5 min. The
supernatant was collected and used for enzyme activity assays. All of the
extraction steps were performed on ice. PEPc (EC.4.1.1.31) activity was
assayed spectrophotometrically following the method by Holdsworth and Bruck
(1977) and PC (EC 6.4.1.1)
activity was assayed according to Wurtele and Nikolau
(1992). The activity of pCA
(EC 4.2.1.1) was measured on intact cells using the potentiometric method of
Wilbur and Anderson (1948) as
modified by Miyachi et al.
(1983). Gln synthetase (EC
6.3.1.2) activity was assayed spectrophometrically
(Oaks et al., 1980). All
results are shown as the mean ± sd of measurements from
triplicates.SDS-PAGE and Western Blots Immunodetection of proteins was effected on extracts of C.
reinhardtii acclimated to 5% (v/v) CO2 and 0.1, 1, or 10
mm NH4+, obtained at intervals of 0, 1, 2, 4,
8, 12, and 24 h after transfer to low CO2 conditions for growth. No
nitrogen was added to the cultures during the experiment. Similar experiments
were also carried out on C. reinhardtii cells acclimated to
5% (v/v) CO2 in the presence of 1, 10, and 100 mm of
NH4Cl. These cells were sampled 24 h after they were transferred to
0.1% (v/v) or 0.2% CO2.Cell-free extracts obtained as described above were loaded on 12% (v/v) SDS-PAGE gels (Laemmli, 1970). Western blots were produced according to Norici et al. (2002). Immunodetection was performed using anti-mitochondrial CA and anti-luminal CA IgGs raised against the respective proteins of C. reinhardtii. Anti-Rubisco IgGs were raised against Rubisco from spinach (Spinacia oleracea). The hybridization of the antibodies was detected using the Immunostar kit (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA). Northern Blots C. reinhardtii cultures were grown and sampled as
described above for low CO2 induction experiments. Total RNA was
isolated immediately after cell collection using the TRIzol reagent
(Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Glyoxal-denatured northern-blot analyses were performed as described by
Sambrook et al. (1989).
Hybridization and washing were done at 65°C. The probes were
32P-labeled DNA sequences amplified from the following genes:
Mca1/Mca2 and Cah3 from C.
reinhardtii and rbcS1 and 25S from Arabidopsis.Calculations of the Steady-State Concentrations of CO2 in
the Cytosol and the Mitochondrial Matrix Estimates of CO2 in the compartment where β-carboxylation
may take place are required to account for the anaplerotic use of
HCO3- in the absence of CA activity in these
compartments. Calculations were therefore made following the methods and
assumptions of Raven (2001),
so that the rate of CO2 production in mitochondria in the light was
computed from the rate of decarboxylation required to support the observed
rate of growth rather than from the measured rates of respiratory
O2 uptake in the dark. In brief, the rate of CO2 production from photorespiration as a fraction of the organic carbon
accumulation rate during growth of C. reinhardtii acclimated
to low CO2, at light saturation, in continuous illumination, was
computed from the CCM models of Spalding and Portis
(1985) and of Yokota et al.
(1987). The methods of Raven
(1984) were used to compute
the rate of CO2 production for the synthesis of those carbon
skeletons required for biosynthesis, which can only be produced by the
metabolism of pyruvate in the mitochondria as a fraction of the organic carbon
accumulation during growth of C. reinhardtii in continuous
light. These are minimal estimates, assuming a minimal involvement of
mitochondrial respiratory reactions in maintenance and repair processes in
continuously illuminated cells. | ||||
Notes 1Research on mechanisms of DIC acquisition by algae in J.A.R.'s laboratory
was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (UK). | ||||
References
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