光合成の安全装置「DLDG1」の役割を解明~植物が強い光から身を守る仕組みに新たな知見~

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2025-08-29 東京科学大学

東京科学大学の増田真二教授らは、植物が強光ストレスから身を守る仕組みに関与するタンパク質「DLDG1」の役割を解明しました。DLDG1は葉緑体の包膜に存在し、水素イオン輸送を通じてpHバランスを調整すると考えられています。本研究では、DLDG1欠損変異体とATP合成酵素に異常を持つhope2変異体を組み合わせた二重変異体を作製し解析。その結果、DLDG1がATP合成酵素と連携して葉緑体内のpHを調節し、光合成の安全弁である熱放散の強さを制御していることが明らかになりました。DLDG1を欠損すると熱放散が過剰になる一方、hope2変異と組み合わせることでその異常が部分的に相殺されることも示されました。本成果は光合成調節メカニズムの理解を深め、強光や乾燥などに強い作物開発につながる可能性があります。研究成果は2025年8月26日付で Plant Physiology に掲載されました。

光合成の安全装置「DLDG1」の役割を解明~植物が強い光から身を守る仕組みに新たな知見~
<関連情報>

葉緑体エンベロープ局在性DLDG1は葉緑体ATP合成酵素を介したチラコイド膜間H⁺輸送を調節する Chloroplast envelope-localized DLDG1 modulates H+ translocation across thylakoid membranes via plastidial ATP synthase

Mai Duy Luu Trinh , Elham Esmailpourmoghadam , Ryoichi Sato , Chikahiro Miyake , Michael Palmgren , Shinji Masuda
Plant Physiology  Published:26 August 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiaf373

Abstract

Land plants have evolved sophisticated regulatory mechanisms to precisely modulate electron flow during photosynthesis that is crucial for protecting the photosynthetic machinery and other cellular components from oxidative photodamage. Non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) serves as a major photoprotective mechanism, dissipating excess absorbed light energy as heat. The chloroplast protein DAY-LENGTH-DEPENDENT DELAYED-GREENING1 (DLDG1), which is specifically conserved in oxygenic phototrophs, plays a pivotal role in controlling NPQ by regulating H+ translocation across the chloroplast envelope membranes. The specific molecular mechanism by which DLDG1 influences NPQ and the H+ gradient across the thylakoid membrane (ΔpH) remains unclear, as DLDG1 localizes in the envelope membranes rather than the thylakoid membranes. Previous studies identified the hope2 (hunger for oxygen in photosynthetic electron transport reaction 2) mutant, which exhibits altered H+ conductivity (gH+) in the thylakoid membranes due to a point mutation in the chloroplast CFo-CF1 ATP synthase. To explore potential functional interactions between DLDG1 and CFo-CF1 ATP synthase, we generated a dldg1 hope2 double mutant in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Characterization of this double mutant revealed that the dldg1 null mutation partially compensated for the decreased NPQ and elevated gH+ observed in hope2. Our findings demonstrate a functional relationship between DLDG1 and CFo-CF1 ATP synthase in regulating ΔpH and photosynthetic electron flow from photosystem II to photosystem I under varying light intensities and CO2 concentrations. We conclude that DLDG1-dependent stromal pH regulation is important for H+ translocation across the thylakoid membranes through CFo-CF1 ATP synthase, thus supporting photosynthetic regulation and plant development under challenging environmental conditions.

生物化学工学
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