Site-2 Protease Slr1821 Regulates Carbon/Nitrogen Homeostasis during Ammonium Stress Acclimation in Cyanobacterium...

Excess ammonium imposes toxicity and stress response in cyanobacteria. How cyanobacteria acclimate to NH₄⁺ stress is so far poorly understood. Here, Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 S2P homolog Slr1821 was identified as the essential regulator through physiological characterization and transcriptomic analysis of its knockout mutant. The proper expression of 60% and 67% of the NH₄⁺ activated and repressed genes, respectively, were actually Slr1821-dependent since they were abolished or reversed in ∆slr1821. Synechocystis 6803 suppressed nitrogen uptake and assimilation, ammonium integration and mobilization of other nitrogen sources upon NH₄⁺ stress. Opposite regulation on genes for assimilation of nitrogen and carbon, such as repression of nitrogen regulatory protein PII, PII interactive protein PirC and activation of carbon acquisition regulator RcbR, demonstrated that Synechocystis 6803 coordinated regulation to maintain carbon/nitrogen homeostasis under increasing nitrogen, while functional Slr1821 was indispensable for most of this coordinated regulation. Additionally, slr1821 knockout disrupted the proper response of regulators and transporters in the ammonium-specific stimulon, and resulted in defective photosynthesis as well as compromised translational and transcriptional machinery. These results provide new insight into the coordinated regulation of nutritional fluctuation and the functional characterization of S2Ps. They also provide new targets for bioengineering cyanobacteria in bioremediation and improving ammonium tolerance in crop plants.