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Temperature shift effect on the Chlorobaculum tepidum chlorosomes

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Abstract

Chlorobaculum [Cba.] tepidum is known to grow optimally at 48–52 °C and can also be cultured at ambient temperatures. In this paper, we prepared constant temperature, temperature shift, and temperature shift followed by backshift cultures and investigated the intrinsic properties and spectral features of chlorosomes from those cultures using various approaches, including temperature-dependent measurements on circular dichroism (CD), UV–visible, and dynamic light scattering. Our studies indicate that (1) chlorosomes from constant temperature cultures at 50 and 30 °C exhibited more resistance to heat relative to temperature shift cultures; (2) as temperature increases bacteriochlorophyll c (BChl c) in chlorosomes is prone to demetalation, which forms bacteriopheophytin c, and degradation under aerobic conditions. Some BChl c aggregates inside reduced chlorosomes prepared in low-oxygen environments can reform after heat treatments; (3) temperature shift cultures synthesize and incorporate more BChl c homologs with a smaller substituent at C-8 on the chlorin ring and less BChl c homologs with a larger long-chain alcohol at C-173 versus constant-temperature cultures. We hypothesize that the long-chain alcohol at C-173 (and perhaps together with the substituent at C-8) may account for thermal stability of chlorosomes and the substituent at C-8 may assist self-assembling BChls; and (4) while almost identical absorption spectra are detected, chlorosomes from different growth conditions exhibited differences in the rotational length of the CD signal, and aerobic and reduced chlorosomes also display different Qy CD intensities. Further, chlorosomes exhibited changes of CD features in response to temperature increases. Additionally, we compare temperature-dependent studies for the Cba. tepidum chlorosomes and previous studies for the Chloroflexus aurantiacus chlorosomes. Together, our work provides useful and novel insights on the properties and organization of chlorosomes.

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Abbreviations

BChl c (or BChl a):

Bacteriochlorophyll c (or a)

BPhe c :

Bacteriopheophytin c

Cba. tepidum :

Chlorobaculumn tepidum

Cfl. aurantiacus :

Chloroflexus aurantiacus

CD:

Circular dichroism

DTT:

Dithiothreitol

GSBs:

Green sulfur bacteria

LC/MS:

Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

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Acknowledgments

Joseph K.-H. Tang thanks Professor Herbert van Amerongen at Wageningen University, Netherlands, and Professor Jakub Pšenčík at Charles University, Czech Republic, for the discussions of CD data, Professor C. Robert Mathew and Dr. Sagar V. Kathuria at the University of Massachusetts Medical School for the access of their CD spectrometry, and Professor Gang Han at the University of Massachusetts Medical School for the access of his dynamic light scattering instrument. This work is supported by start-up funds and faculty development fund from Clark University to Joseph K.-H. Tang.

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  1. School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Clark University, Worcester, MA, 01610, USA

    Joseph Kuo-Hsiang Tang, Guillermo M. Muhlmann, Farrokh Zare, Yadana Khin & Sun W. Tam

  2. Nuclea Biotechnologies Inc., Pittsfield, MA, 01201, USA

    Ying Xu & Sun W. Tam

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  1. Joseph Kuo-Hsiang Tang
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  2. Ying Xu
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Correspondence to Joseph Kuo-Hsiang Tang.

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Tang, J.KH., Xu, Y., Muhlmann, G.M. et al. Temperature shift effect on the Chlorobaculum tepidum chlorosomes. Photosynth Res 115, 23–41 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-013-9800-y

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