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The genomes of many photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic bacteria encode numerous phytochrome superfamily photoreceptors whose functions and interactions are largely unknown. Cyanobacterial genomes encode particularly large numbers of phytochrome superfamily members called cyanobacteriochromes. These have diverse light color-sensing abilities, and their functions and interactions are just beginning to be understood. One of the best characterized of these functions is the regulation of photosynthetic light-harvesting antenna composition in the cyanobacterium Fremyella diplosiphon by the cyanobacteriochrome RcaE in response to red and green light, a process known as chromatic acclimation. We have identified a new cyanobacteriochrome named DpxA that maximally senses teal (absorption maximum, 494 nm) and yellow (absorption maximum, 568 nm) light and represses the accumulation of a key light-harvesting protein called phycoerythrin, which is also regulated by RcaE during chromatic acclimation. Like RcaE, DpxA is a two-component system kinase, although these two photoreceptors can influence phycoerythrin expression through different signaling pathways. The peak responsiveness of DpxA to teal and yellow light provides highly refined color discrimination in the green spectral region, which provides important wavelengths for photosynthetic light harvesting in cyanobacteria. These results redefine chromatic acclimation in cyanobacteria and demonstrate that cyanobacteriochromes can coordinately impart sophisticated light color sensing across the visible spectrum to regulate important photosynthetic acclimation processes.

In this qualitative study, we examined the process of active learning from the perspective of undergraduate students in a high-enrollment introductory biology class. Eight students participated in a series of five interviews throughout the semester that examined their experiences during and after class. Grades were collected for each student at regular time points throughout the semester. Here, we present in-depth case studies of four students who described profoundly different responses to the same in-class learning tasks. We particularly highlight variation in students’ self-reported engagement, as engagement is thought to be a key element of successful active learning. Finally, we map each student’s self-reported engagement and the grades that he or she received. In each case, we found that grades failed to capture some aspects of the active-learning experience that students found important.

The colorful process of chromatic acclimation allows many cyanobacteria to change their pigmentation in response to ambient light color changes. In red light, cells produce red-absorbing phycocyanin (PC), whereas in green light, green-absorbing phycoerythrin (PE) is made. Controlling these pigment levels increases fitness by optimizing photosynthetic activity in different light color environments. The light color sensory system controlling PC expression is well understood, but PE regulation has not been resolved. In the filamentous cyanobacterium Fremyella diplosiphon UTEX 481, two systems control PE synthesis in response to light color. The first is the Rca pathway, a two-component system controlled by a phytochrome-class photoreceptor, which transcriptionally represses cpeCDESTR ( cpeC ) expression during growth in red light. The second is the Cgi pathway, which has not been characterized. We determined that the Cgi system also regulates PE synthesis by repressing cpeC expression in red light, but acts posttranscriptionally, requiring the region upstream of the CpeC translation start codon. cpeC RNA stability was comparable in F. diplosiphon cells grown in red and green light, and a short transcript that included the 5′ region of cpeC was detected, suggesting that the Cgi system operates by transcription attenuation. The roles of four predicted stem–loop structures within the 5′ region of cpeC RNA were analyzed. The putative stem–loop 31 nucleotides upstream of the translation start site was required for Cgi system function. Thus, the Cgi system appears to be a unique type of signal transduction pathway in which the attenuation of cpeC transcription is regulated by light color.

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