A MYB-type transcription factor, MYB2, represses light-harvesting protein genes in Cyanidioschyzon merolae.

Yasuko Kawase, Sousuke Imamura, Kan Tanaka

FEBS letters 2017 Aug

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While searching for transcriptional regulators that respond to changes in light regimes, we identified a MYB domain-containing protein, MYB2, that accumulates under dark and other conditions in the unicellular red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae. The isolation and analysis of a MYB2 mutant revealed that MYB2 represses the expression of the nuclear-encoded chloroplast RNA polymerase sigma factor gene SIG2, which results in the repression of the chloroplast-encoded phycobilisome genes that are under its control. Since nuclear-encoded phycobilisome and other light-harvesting protein genes are also repressed by MYB2, we conclude that MYB2 has a role in repressing the expression of light-harvesting genes. The MYB2 mutant is sensitive to a prolonged dark incubation, indicating the importance of MYB2 for cell viability in the dark. © 2017 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

Citation

Yasuko Kawase, Sousuke Imamura, Kan Tanaka. A MYB-type transcription factor, MYB2, represses light-harvesting protein genes in Cyanidioschyzon merolae. FEBS letters. 2017 Aug;591(16):2439-2448