Regulatory adenylnucleotide-mediated binding of the PII-like protein SbtB to the cyanobacterial bicarbonate transporter SbtA is controlled by the cellular energy state

Abstract

ABSTRACTCyanobacteria have evolved one of the most powerful CO2 concentrating mechanisms (CCM), supporting high photosynthetic rates with limiting inorganic carbon (Ci), which makes their CCM a desirable system for integration into higher plant chloroplasts to enhance photosynthetic yield. The CCM is driven by active Ci uptake, facilitated by bicarbonate transporters and CO2 pumps, which locally elevates the CO2 concentration and carboxylation rate of the primary CO2 fixing enzyme, Rubisco, inside cytoplasmic micro-compartments (carboxysomes). Ci uptake responds allosterically to Ci supply and light, but the molecular signals and regulators of protein function are unknowns. Functional analyses of sodium-dependent bicarbonate transporters classified as SbtA in E. coli support the hypothesis that SbtA activity is negatively regulated through association with its cognate PII-like SbtB protein. Here, we demonstrate that the association of SbtA with SbtB from two phylogenetically distant species, Cyanobium sp. PCC7001 and Synechococcus elongatus PCC7942, depends on the relative amounts of ATP or cAMP compared to ADP or AMP. Higher ATP over ADP or AMP ratios decreased the formation of SbtA:SbtB complexes, consistent with a sensory response to the cellular adenylate energy charge (AEC=[ATP + 0.5 ADP]/[ATP+ADP+AMP]) and the different binding affinities of these adenylates to SbtB protein trimers. Based on evidence for adenylate ligand-specific conformation changes for the SbtB protein trimer of Cyanobium sp. PCC7001, we propose a role for SbtB as a curfew protein locking SbtA into an inactive state as safe-guard against energetically futile and physiologically disadvantageous activation during prolonged low cellular AEC and photosynthetically unfavourable conditions.