Regulation of photoprotection gene expression in <i>Chlamydomonas</i> by a putative E3 ubiquitin ligase complex and a homolog of CONSTANS

Abstract

Photosynthetic organisms use nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) mechanisms to dissipate excess absorbed light energy and protect themselves from photooxidation. In the model green alga <i>Chlamydomonas reinhardtii</i>, the capacity for rapidly reversible NPQ (qE) is induced by high light, blue light, and UV light via increased expression of <i>LHCSR</i> and <i>PSBS</i> genes that are necessary for qE. Here, we used a forward genetics approach to identify SPA1 and CUL4, components of a putative green algal E3 ubiquitin ligase complex, as critical factors in a signaling pathway that controls light-regulated expression of the <i>LHCSR</i> and <i>PSBS</i> genes in <i>C. reinhardtii</i> The <i>spa1</i> and <i>cul4</i> mutants accumulate increased levels of LHCSR1 and PSBS proteins in high light, and unlike the wild type, they express LHCSR1 and exhibit qE capacity even when grown in low light. The <i>spa1-1</i> mutation resulted in constitutively high expression of <i>LHCSR</i> and <i>PSBS</i> RNAs in both low light and high light. The qE and gene expression phenotypes of <i>spa1-1</i> are blocked by mutation of CrCO, a B-box Zn-finger transcription factor that is a homolog of CONSTANS, which controls flowering time in plants. CONSTANS-like <i>cis</i>-regulatory sequences were identified proximal to the qE genes, consistent with CrCO acting as a direct activator of qE gene expression. We conclude that SPA1 and CUL4 are components of a conserved E3 ubiquitin ligase that acts upstream of CrCO, whose regulatory function is wired differently in <i>C. reinhardtii</i> to control qE capacity via <i>cis</i>-regulatory CrCO-binding sites at key photoprotection genes.