Background: Biogeochemical elemental cycling is driven by primary production of biomass via phototrophic phytoplankton growth, with 40% of marine productivity being assigned to diatoms. Phytoplankton growth is widely limited by the availability of iron, an essential component of the photosynthetic apparatus. The oceanic diatom Thalassiosira oceanica shows a remarkable tolerance to low-iron conditions and was chosen as a model for deciphering the cellular response upon shortage of this essential micronutrient. Results: The combined efforts in genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics reveal an unexpected metabolic flexibility in response to iron availability for T. oceanica CCMP1005. The complex response comprises cellular retrenchment as well as remodeling of bioenergetic pathways, where the abundance of iron-rich photosynthetic proteins is lowered, whereas iron-rich mitochondrial proteins are preserved. As a consequence of iron deprivation, the photosynthetic machinery undergoes a remodeling to adjust the light energy utilization with the overall decrease in photosynthetic electron transfer complexes. Conclusions: Beneficial adaptations to low-iron environments include strategies to lower the cellular iron requirements and to enhance iron uptake. A novel contribution enhancing iron economy of phototrophic growth is observed with the iron-regulated substitution of three metal-containing fructose-bisphosphate aldolases involved in metabolic conversion of carbohydrates for enzymes that do not contain metals. Further, our data identify candidate components of a high-affinity iron-uptake system, with several of the involved genes and domains originating from duplication events. A high genomic plasticity, as seen from the fraction of genes acquired through horizontal gene transfer, provides the platform for these complex adaptations to a low-iron world.

The versatile metabolism of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is reflected in its complex response to anaerobic conditions. The anaerobic response is also remarkable in the context of renewable energy because C. reinhardtii is able to produce hydrogen under anaerobic conditions. To identify proteins involved during anaerobic acclimation as well as to localize proteins and pathways to the powerhouses of the cell, chloroplasts and mitochondria from C. reinhardtii in aerobic and anaerobic (induced by 8 h of argon bubbling) conditions were isolated and analyzed using comparative proteomics. A total of 2315 proteins were identified. Further analysis based on spectral counting clearly localized 606 of these proteins to the chloroplast, including many proteins of the fermentative metabolism. Comparative quantitative analyses were performed with the chloroplast-localized proteins using stable isotopic labeling of amino acids ([¹³C₆]arginine/[¹²C₆]arginine in an arginine auxotrophic strain). The quantitative data confirmed proteins previously characterized as induced at the transcript level as well as identified several new proteins of unknown function induced under anaerobic conditions. These proteins of unknown function provide new candidates for further investigation, which could bring insights for the engineering of hydrogen-producing alga strains.

The plant-specific calcium binding protein CAS (calcium sensor) has been localized in chloroplast thylakoid membranes of vascular plants and green algae. To elucidate the function of CAS in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, we generated and analyzed eight independent CAS knockdown C. reinhardtii lines (cas-kd). Upon transfer to high-light (HL) growth conditions, cas-kd lines were unable to properly induce the expression of LHCSR3 protein that is crucial for nonphotochemical quenching. Prolonged exposure to HL revealed a severe light sensitivity of cas-kd lines and caused diminished activity and recovery of photosystem II (PSII). Remarkably, the induction of LHCSR3, the growth of cas-kd lines under HL, and the performance of PSII were fully rescued by increasing the calcium concentration in the growth media. Moreover, perturbing cellular Ca2+ homeostasis by application of the calmodulin antagonist W7 or the G-protein activator mastoparan impaired the induction of LHCSR3 expression in a concentration-dependent manner. Our findings demonstrate that CAS and Ca2+ are critically involved in the regulation of the HL response and particularly in the control of LHCSR3 expression.

Cyclic photosynthetic electron flow (CEF) is crucial to photosynthesis because it participates in the control of chloroplast energy and redox metabolism, and it is particularly induced under adverse environmental conditions. Here we report that down-regulation of the chloroplast localized Ca ²⁺ sensor (CAS) protein by an RNAi approach in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii results in strong inhibition of CEF under anoxia. Importantly, this inhibition is rescued by an increase in the extracellular Ca ²⁺ concentration, inferring that CEF is Ca ²⁺ -dependent. Furthermore, we identified a protein, anaerobic response 1 (ANR1), that is also required for effective acclimation to anaerobiosis. Depletion of ANR1 by artificial microRNA expression mimics the CAS-depletion phenotype, and under anaerobic conditions the two proteins coexist within a large active photosystem I-cytochrome b ₆ /f complex. Moreover, we provide evidence that CAS and ANR1 interact with each other as well as with PGR5-Like 1 (PGRL1) in vivo. Overall our data establish a Ca ²⁺ -dependent regulation of CEF via the combined function of ANR1, CAS, and PGRL1, associated with each other in a multiprotein complex.