PARENT SESSION
Posters P1B Photo-oxidative stress, photoinhibition. Abstracts (394-443)

Studies of oligomerisation and life time of the cyanobacterial small Cab-like proteins (SCPs/HLIPs). Miguel Hernandez^{*,1, 2}, Christiane Funk², Wim Vermaas¹, ¹ School of Life Sciences and Center for the Study of Early Events in Photosynthesis (Arizona State University) Box 874501, Tempe, Arizona, USA² Department of Biochemistry and Umeå Plant Science Center, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

ABSTRACT- Genome analyses of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803 revealed the existence of 5 genes with sequence homologies to the first and third transmembrane helix of the plant family of chlorophyll a/b binding proteins. For that reason these proteins were called small Cab-like proteins (SCPs). Several cellular functions have been proposed for these stress-induced proteins, all of them assume pigment binding and homo- or hetero oligomerization. By using the FRET effect the molecular addition of green fluorescent proteins (GFPs) enables us to study the interactions between different SCPs in the thylakoid membrane and their orientation in it. Also, the life time of ScpA, ScpB and ScpE currently is analyzed using different mutant strains with different chlorophyll concentrations. The function of the small Cab-like proteins will be discussed.

KEY WORDS: Chlorophyll, SCPs, FRET, Oligomerisation