Project description
Study throws more light on the photoprotection mechanisms in cyanobacteria
Just like most photosynthetic organisms, cyanobacteria are vulnerable to light intensity fluctuations. To protect themselves, they use a photoprotective mechanism called non-photochemical quenching. This mechanism is triggered by orange carotenoid protein (OCP) light activation. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the OCPSTRUCTDYNAMICS project aims to shed further light on the structural dynamics of OCP light activation. The project will combine time-resolved X-ray crystallography with ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy to describe the structure-dependent flow of photoenergy in isolated proteins. Study findings should help enhance cyanobacterial light harvesting to increase biofuel production.
Objective
Like most photosynthetic organisms, cyanobacteria are vulnerable to fluctuations in light intensity, which can damage their photosynthetic machinery. To protect themselves against such fluctuations, they use a photoprotective mechanism called non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), i.e. the dissipation of excess absorbed photo-energy as heat. NPQ in cyanobacteria is triggered by orange carotenoid protein (OCP) light activation. Based on spectroscopic and diffraction studies of OCP in Synechocystis 6803 (gene slr1963), it was suggested that OCP light activation occurs through light-induced movement of a carotenoid causing movement and/or dissociation of OCP N- and C-terminal domains. However, the exact structural dynamics of OCP light-activation need to be unravelled. Furthermore, the growing availability of cyanobacterial genomes allowed identification of additional OCP subfamilies (OCP2, OCPX) in different cyanobacteria. The first results demonstrating different kinetics of light-activation in the different OCP paralogs raised questions about differences in their photoprotective roles and in photoactivation mechanisms. This topic has not been studied to date. Here I propose to resolve structural changes during photoprotection-related transitions of OCP in different OCP subfamilies using time-resolved X-ray crystallography. X-ray crystallography of OCP1 encoded by slr1963, the best-characterized OCP protein, as well as its paralogs from the OCP2 and OCPX subfamilies will be performed. This approach will be combined with ultrafast transient (polarised) absorption spectroscopy on isolated proteins and oriented single crystals to describe the structure-dependent flow of photoenergy in the proteins. This study has several potential applications ranging from enhancing cyanobacterial light harvesting to improve biofuel production, to better understanding of carotenoid-protein interactions in artificial photosynthesis systems, and for optogenetics.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences geology mineralogy crystallography
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences physical sciences optics spectroscopy absorption spectroscopy
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
- natural sciences biological sciences botany
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2018
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
SW7 2AZ London
United Kingdom
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