Genome analysis of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii reveals the existence of multiple, compartmentalized iron-sulfur protein assembly machineries of different evolutionary origins

Genetics. 2008 May;179(1):59-68. doi: 10.1534/genetics.107.086033.

Abstract

The unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is used extensively as a model to study eukaryotic photosynthesis, flagellar functions, and more recently the production of hydrogen as biofuel. Two of these processes, photosynthesis and hydrogen production, are highly dependent on iron-sulfur (Fe-S) enzymes. To understand how Fe-S proteins are assembled in Chlamydomonas, we have analyzed its recently sequenced genome for orthologs of genes involved in Fe-S cluster assembly. We found a total of 32 open reading frames, most single copies, that are thought to constitute a mitochondrial assembly pathway, mitochondrial export machinery, a cytosolic assembly pathway, and components for Fe-S cluster assembly in the chloroplast. The chloroplast proteins are also expected to play a role in the assembly of the H-cluster in [FeFe]-hydrogenases, together with the recently identified HydEF and HydG proteins. Comparison with the higher plant model Arabidopsis indicated a strong degree of conservation of Fe-S cofactor assembly pathways in the green lineage, the pathways being derived from different origins during the evolution of the photosynthetic eukaryote. As a haploid, unicellular organism with available forward and reverse genetic tools, Chlamydomonas provides an excellent model system to study Fe-S cluster assembly and its regulation in photosynthetic eukaryotes.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chlamydomonas reinhardtii / genetics*
  • Computational Biology
  • Evolution, Molecular*
  • Genomics
  • Iron-Sulfur Proteins / genetics*

Substances

  • Iron-Sulfur Proteins