Arthur Grossman - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Arthur Grossman

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1992

Many cyanobacteria alter their phycobilisome composition in response to changes in light waveleng... more Many cyanobacteria alter their phycobilisome composition in response to changes in light wavelength in a process termed complementary chromatic adaptation. Mutant strains FdR1 and FdR2 of the filamentous cyanobacterium Fremyella diplosiphon are characterized by aberrant chromatic adaptation. Instead of adjusting to different wavelengths of light, FdR1 and FdR2 behave as if they are always in green light; they do not respond to red light. We have previously reported complementation of FdR1 by conjugal transfer of a wild-type genomic library. The complementing DNA has now been localized by genetic analysis to a region on the rescued genomic subclone that contains a gene designated rcaC. This region of DNA is also able to complement FdR2. Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA from FdR1 and FdR2 indicates that these strains harbor DNA insertions within the rcaC sequence that may have resulted from the activity of transposable genetic elements. The predicted amino acid sequence of RcaC s...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Dec 20, 2017

The relationship between reef-building corals and phototrophic dinoflagellates of the genus Symbi... more The relationship between reef-building corals and phototrophic dinoflagellates of the genus Symbiodinium is fundamental to the functioning of coral reef ecosystems. It has been suggested that reef corals may adapt to climate change by changing their dominant symbiont type to a more thermally tolerant one, although the capacity for such a community shift is potentially hindered by the compatibility of different host-symbiont pairings. Here we combined transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses to characterize the molecular, cellular, and physiological processes that underlie this compatibility, with a particular focus on Symbiodinium trenchii, an opportunistic, thermally tolerant symbiont that flourishes in coral tissues after bleaching events. Symbiont-free individuals of the sea anemone Exaiptasia pallida (commonly referred to as Aiptasia), an established model system for the study of the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis, were colonized with the "normal" (homologous) symbi...

Journal of Bacteriology, 1997

Complementary chromatic adaptation is a process in which cyanobacteria alter the pigment protein ... more Complementary chromatic adaptation is a process in which cyanobacteria alter the pigment protein (phycocyanin and phycoerythrin) composition of their light-harvesting complexes, the phycobilisomes, to help optimize the absorbance of prevalent wavelengths of light in the environment. Several classes of mutants that display aberrant complementary chromatic adaptation have been isolated. One of the mutant classes, designated "blue" or FdB, accumulates high levels of the blue chromoprotein phycocyanin in low-intensity green light, a condition that normally suppresses phycocyanin synthesis. We demonstrate here that the synthesis of the phycocyanin protein and mRNA in the FdB mutants can be suppressed by increasing the intensity of green light. Hence, these mutants have a decreased sensitivity to green light with respect to suppression of phycocyanin synthesis. Although we were unable to complement the blue mutants, we did isolate genes that could suppress the mutant phenotype. ...

New Phytologist, 2017

SummaryBiotic interactions underlie life's diversity and are the lynchpin to understanding it... more SummaryBiotic interactions underlie life's diversity and are the lynchpin to understanding its complexity and resilience within an ecological niche. Algal biologists have embraced this paradigm, and studies building on the explosive growth in omics and cell biology methods have facilitated the in‐depth analysis of nonmodel organisms and communities from a variety of ecosystems. In turn, these advances have enabled a major revision of our understanding of the origin and evolution of photosynthesis in eukaryotes, bacterial–algal interactions, control of massive algal blooms in the ocean, and the maintenance and degradation of coral reefs. Here, we review some of the most exciting developments in the field of algal biotic interactions and identify challenges for scientists in the coming years. We foresee the development of an algal knowledgebase that integrates ecosystem‐wide omics data and the development of molecular tools/resources to perform functional analyses of individuals i...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1999

Disruption of a gene for an alternative sigma factor, designated sigF , in the freshwater, unicel... more Disruption of a gene for an alternative sigma factor, designated sigF , in the freshwater, unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803 resulted in a pleiotropic phenotype. Most notably, this mutant lost phototactic movement with a concomitant loss of pili, which are abundant on the surface of wild-type cells. The sigF mutant also secreted both high levels of yellow–brown and UV-absorbing pigments and a polypeptide that is similar to a large family of extracellular proteins that includes the hemolysins. Furthermore, the sigF mutant had a dramatically reduced level of the transcript from two tandemly arranged pilA genes ( sll1694 and sll1695 ), which encode major structural components of type IV pili. Inactivation of these pilA genes eliminated phototactic movement, though some pili were still present in this strain. Together, these results demonstrate that SigF plays a critical role in motility via the control of pili formation and is also likely to regulate other fea...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1986

The polypeptide composition of the phycobilisome, the major light-harvesting complex of prokaryot... more The polypeptide composition of the phycobilisome, the major light-harvesting complex of prokaryotic cyanobacteria and certain eukaryotic algae, can be modulated by different light qualities in cyanobacteria exhibiting chromatic adaptation. We have identified genomic fragments encoding a cluster of phycobilisome polypeptides (phycobiliproteins) from the chromatically adapting cyanobacterium Fremyella diplosiphon using previously characterized DNA fragments of phycobiliprotein genes from the eukaryotic alga Cyanophora paradoxa and from F. diplosiphon. Characterization of two lambda-EMBL3 clones containing overlapping genomic fragments indicates that three sets of phycobiliprotein genes--the alpha- and beta-allophycocyanin genes plus two sets of alpha- and beta-phycocyanin genes--are clustered within 13 kilobases on the cyanobacterial genome and transcribed off the same strand. The gene order (alpha-allophycocyanin followed by beta-allophycocyanin and beta-phycocyanin followed by alpha...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2006

Genome sequences of two Synechococcus ecotypes inhabiting the Octopus Spring microbial mat in Yel... more Genome sequences of two Synechococcus ecotypes inhabiting the Octopus Spring microbial mat in Yellowstone National Park revealed the presence of all genes required for nitrogenase biosynthesis. We demonstrate that nif genes of the Synechococcus ecotypes are expressed in situ in a region of the mat that varies in temperature from 53.5°C to 63.4°C (average 60°C); transcripts are only detected at the end of the day when the mat becomes anoxic. Nitrogenase activity in mat samples was also detected in the evening. Hitherto, N 2 fixation in hot spring mats was attributed either to filamentous cyanobacteria (not present at >50°C in these mats) or to heterotrophic bacteria. To explore how energy-generating processes of the Synechococcus ecotypes track natural light and O 2 conditions, we evaluated accumulation of transcripts encoding proteins involved in photosynthesis, respiration, and fermentation. Transcripts from photosynthesis ( cpcF , cpcE , psaB , and psbB ) and respiration ( coxA...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2001

To optimize photosynthesis, cyanobacteria move toward or away from a light source by a process kn... more To optimize photosynthesis, cyanobacteria move toward or away from a light source by a process known as phototaxis. Phototactic movement of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC6803 is a surface-dependent phenomenon that requires type IV pili, cellular appendages implicated in twitching and social motility in a range of bacteria. To elucidate regulation of cyanobacterial motility, we generated transposon-tagged mutants with aberrant phototaxis; mutants were either nonmotile or exhibited an “inverted motility response” (negative phototaxis) relative to wild-type cells. Several mutants contained transposons in genes similar to those involved in bacterial chemotaxis. Synechocystis PCC6803 has three loci with chemotaxis-like genes, of which two, Tax1 and Tax3 , are involved in phototaxis. Transposons interrupting the Tax1 locus yielded mutants that exhibited an inverted motility response, suggesting that this locus is involved in controlling positive phototaxis. However, a strain null fo...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1997

Xanthophyll pigments have critical structural and functional roles in the photosynthetic light-ha... more Xanthophyll pigments have critical structural and functional roles in the photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes of algae and vascular plants. Genetic dissection of xanthophyll metabolism in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii revealed functions for specific xanthophylls in the nonradiative dissipation of excess absorbed light energy, measured as nonphotochemical quenching of chlorophyll fluorescence. Mutants with a defect in either the α- or β-branch of carotenoid biosynthesis exhibited less nonphotochemical quenching but were still able to tolerate high light. In contrast, a double mutant that was defective in the synthesis of lutein, loroxanthin (α-carotene branch), zeaxanthin, and antheraxanthin (β-carotene branch) had almost no nonphotochemical quenching and was extremely sensitive to high light. These results strongly suggest that in addition to the xanthophyll cycle pigments (zeaxanthin and antheraxanthin), α-carotene-derived xanthophylls such as lutein, which are str...

Plant Physiology, 2003

The National Science Foundation-funded Chlamydomonas reinhardtii genome project involves (a) cons... more The National Science Foundation-funded Chlamydomonas reinhardtii genome project involves (a) construction and sequencing of cDNAs isolated from cells exposed to various environmental conditions, (b) construction of a high-density cDNA microarray, (c) generation of genomic contigs that are nucleated around specific physical and genetic markers, (d) generation of a complete chloroplast genome sequence and analyses of chloroplast gene expression, and (e) the creation of a Web-based resource that allows for easy access of the information in a format that can be readily queried. Phases of the project performed by the groups at the Carnegie Institution and Duke University involve the generation of normalized cDNA libraries, sequencing of cDNAs, analysis and assembly of these sequences to generate contigs and a set of predicted unique genes, and the use of this information to construct a high-density DNA microarray. In this paper, we discuss techniques involved in obtaining cDNA end-sequen...