The Red‐/Green‐Switching GAF3 of Cyanobacteriochrome Slr1393 from Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 Regulates the Activity of an Adenylyl Cyclase

Cyanobacteriochromes (CBCRs) are photoreceptors in cyanobacteria that present a bilin chromophore‐binding GAF domain as a photochromic element to control the activity of a downstream enzyme or regulator. CBCR Slr1393 from Synechocystis PCC 6803 carries three GAF domains, but only the third one binds phycocyanobilin covalently. Slr1393 shows photochromicity between red and green absorbing states and regulates a C‐terminally located histidine kinase. In this work, we fused this third GAF domain to an adenylyl cyclase (AC) from Microcoleus chthonoplastes PCC7420 that in its genuine form is under blue‐light control from a LOV domain. A series of RGS‐AC variants were constructed with various lengths of the linkers between RGS and AC. Assays in vitro and in living Escherichia coli cells (AC‐deletion mutant) demonstrated that the activity of AC was light regulated, namely, the red‐light‐converted form of RGSΔ14‐Δ4AC (in vitro) was about three times more active than the green‐light‐converted form. Expression of the fusion protein RGSΔ14‐Δ4AC in vivo again showed highest light regulation with at least threefold amplification of the AC function. In some experiments, even tenfold higher activity was observed, which indicated that the protein, if expressed under in vivo conditions, was part of the E. coli physiological conditions and thereby subjected to more complex and variable regulation through other E. coli inherent factors.