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Journal of Bacteriology, December 2009, p. 7234-7242, Vol. 191, No. 23
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JB.00923-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Distribution and Phylogeny of Light-Oxygen-Voltage-Blue-Light-Signaling Proteins in the Three Kingdoms of Life
,
Ulrich Krauss,1*,
Bui Quang Minh,4,
Aba Losi,2
Wolfgang Gärtner,3
Thorsten Eggert,5
Arndt von Haeseler,4* and
Karl-Erich Jaeger1
Institut für Molekulare Enzymtechnologie, Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf, Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52426 Jülich, Germany,1 Department of Physics, University of Parma, I-43100-Parma, Italy,2 Max-Planck-Institut für Bioanorganische Chemie, Stiftstr. 34-36, D-45470 Mülheim, Germany,3 Center for Integrative Bioinformatics Vienna, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Dr. Bohr Gasse 9, A-1030 Vienna, Austria,4 evocatal GmbH, Merowingerplatz 1a, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany5
Received 15 July 2009/ Accepted 18 September 2009
Plants and fungi respond to environmental light stimuli via the action of different photoreceptor modules. One such class, responding to the blue region of light, is constituted by photoreceptors containing so-called light-oxygen-voltage (LOV) domains as sensor modules. Four major LOV families are currently identified in eukaryotes: (i) the plant phototropins, regulating various physiological effects such as phototropism, chloroplast relocation, and stomatal opening; (ii) the aureochromes, mediating photomorphogenesis in photosynthetic stramenopile algae; (iii) the plant circadian photoreceptors of the zeitlupe (ZTL)/adagio (ADO)/flavin-binding Kelch repeat F-box protein 1 (FKF1) family; and (iv) the fungal circadian photoreceptors white-collar 1 (WC-1). Blue-light-sensitive LOV signaling modules are also widespread throughout the prokaryotic world, and physiological responses mediated by bacterial LOV photoreceptors were recently reported. Thus, the question arises as to the evolutionary relationship between the pro- and eukaryotic LOV photoreceptor systems. We used Bayesian and maximum-likelihood tree reconstruction methods to infer evolutionary scenarios that might have led to the widespread appearance of LOV domains among the pro- and eukaryotes. The phylogenetic study presented here suggests a bacterial origin for the LOV domains of the four major eukaryotic LOV photoreceptor families, whereas the LOV sensor domains were most likely recruited from the bacteria in the course of plastid and mitochondrial endosymbiosis.
* Corresponding author. Mailing address for Ulrich Krauss: Institut für Molekulare Enzymtechnologie, Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf, Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52426 Jülich, Germany. Phone: 49 2461 61 2939. Fax: 49 2461 61 2490. E-mail: u.krauss{at}fz-juelich.de. Mailing address for Arndt von Haeseler: Center for Integrative Bioinformatics Vienna, Max F. Perutz Laboratories, University of Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Dr. Bohr Gasse 9, A-1030 Vienna, Austria. Phone: 43 79044-4550. Fax: 43 79044-4551. E-mail: arndt.von.haeseler{at}univie.ac.at
Published ahead of print on 25 September 2009.
Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jb.asm.org/.
These authors have equally contributed to this work.
Journal of Bacteriology, December 2009, p. 7234-7242, Vol. 191, No. 23
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JB.00923-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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