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Updated: Aug 25, 2026

Natural Transformation, Protein Expression, and Cryoconservation of the Filamentous Cyanobacterium Phormidium lacuna
Published on: February 1, 2022
Blue light stimulates cyanobacterial motility via a cAMP signal transduction system
Kazuki Terauchi1, Masayuki Ohmori
1Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan.
Abstract:
The participation of cAMP in photosignal transduction in cyanobacteria was investigated. When cells of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 were exposed to light, cellular cAMP contents increased within a few minutes. Among incident monochromatic lights, blue light (450 nm) markedly increased cellular cAMP content, while red (630 nm) and far-red (720 nm) lights did not. Disruption of the cya1 gene encoding an adenylate cyclase caused the insensitivity of cellular cAMP level to blue light. Treatment of wild-type cells with the flavin antagonist phenylacetic acid inhibited this blue light effect. The motility of wild-type cells was enhanced by blue light, whereas that of cya1 mutant cells was not. Based on these results, we concluded that a blue light-cAMP signal transduction system stimulates the motility of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.
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