UV-A-induced expression of GroEL in the UV-A-resistant marine cyanobacterium Oscillatoria sp. NKBG 091600

Department of Biotechnology, Tokyo University of Agriculture & Technology, 2–24–16 Nakacho, Koganei, Tokyo 184–8588, Japan Author for correspondence: Tadashi Marsunaga. Tel: +81 42 388 7020. Fax: +81 42 385 7713. e-mail: tmatsuna@cc.tuat.ac.jp ABSTRACT Summary: The authors have examined the response to UV-A irradiation of the UV-A-resistant marine cyanobacterium Oscillatoria sp. NKBG 091600, which produces the UV-A-absorbing compound biopterin glucoside. The expression of a 60 kDa protein was markedly induced at 500 min after UV-A irradiation. This protein was identified by N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis as GroEL. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that GroEL synthesis was controlled by UV-A at the transcriptional level. A CIRCE element and a putative SOS consensus sequence were found upstream of the groESL operon, overlapping two putative promoter sequences. Primer extension analysis revealed that groESL transcription in UV-A-induced cells starts from the proximal promoter overlapped by the SOS consensus sequences. This indicates that an SOS response regulation is instrumental in UV-A-induced GroEL expression of Oscillatoria sp. NKBG 091600. Furthermore, this UV-A-inducible GroEL may function to upregulate biopterin glucoside biosynthesis, thereby allowing growth under UV-A irradiation. Keywords: stress response, UV-A resistance, biopterin glucoside, GroEL, marine cyanobacterium Oscillatoria sp.