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. 2013 Jun 23;4(8):607–619. doi: 10.1007/s13238-013-3034-9

Structure of the catalytic domain of a state transition kinase homolog from Micromonas algae

Jiangtao Guo 13034,23034, Xuepeng Wei 13034,23034, Mei Li 13034, Xiaowei Pan 13034, Wenrui Chang 13034,✉, Zhenfeng Liu 13034,✉
PMCID: PMC4875540  PMID: 23794031

Abstract

Under natural environments, plants and algae have evolved various photosynthetic acclimation mechanisms in response to the constantly changing light conditions. The state transition and long-term response processes in photosynthetic acclimation involve remodeling and composition alteration of thylakoid membrane. A chloroplast protein kinase named Stt7/STN7 has been found to have pivotal roles in both state transition and long-term response. Here we report the crystal structures of the kinase domain of a putative Stt7/STN7 homolog from Micromonas sp. RCC299 (MsStt7d) in the apo form and in complex with various nucleotide substrates. MsStt7d adopts a canonical protein kinase fold and contains all the essential residues at the active site. A novel hairpin motif, found to be a conserved feature of the Stt7/STN7 family and indispensable for the kinase stability, interacts with the activation loop and fixes it in an active conformation. We have also demonstrated that MsStt7d is a dualspecifi city kinase that phosphorylates both Thr and Tyr residues. Moreover, preliminary in vitro data suggest that it might be capable of phosphorylating a consensus N-terminal pentapeptide of light-harvesting proteins Micromonas Lhcp4 and Arabidopsis Lhcb1 directly. The potential peptide/protein substrate binding site is predicted based on the location of a pseudo-substrate contributed by the adjacent molecule within the crystallographic dimer. The structural and biochemical data presented here provide a framework for an improved understanding on the role of Stt7/STN7 in photosynthetic acclimation.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available for this article at 10.1007/s13238-013-3034-9 and is accessible for authorized users.

Keywords: Stt7/STN7 kinase, state transition, phosphorylation

Electronic supplementary material

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Supplementary material, approximately 8.91 KB.

Footnotes

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available for this article at 10.1007/s13238-013-3034-9 and is accessible for authorized users.

Contributor Information

Wenrui Chang, Email: wrchang@sun5.ibp.ac.cn.

Zhenfeng Liu, Email: liuzf@sun5.ibp.ac.cn.

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