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UV‐INDUCED DAMAGE OF PHOTORECEPTOR PROTEINS IN THE PARAFLAGELLAR BODY OF Euglena gracilis
Author(s) -
Brodhun Bonita,
Häder DonatP.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
photochemistry and photobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.818
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1751-1097
pISSN - 0031-8655
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-1097.1993.tb09560.x
Subject(s) - euglena gracilis , flagellate , phototaxis , flagellum , euglena , biology , gel electrophoresis , biophysics , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , botany , chloroplast , gene
— The paraflagellar body (PFB), the putative photoreceptor for phototaxis in the flagellate Euglena gracilis , was isolated still attached to the flagellum. After solubilization the proteins were separated and analyzed by two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis. To discriminate the PFB‐specific proteins from the flagella proteins, flagella without PFB were analyzed, isolated from the flagellate Astasia longa (a chlorophyll‐free relative of E. gracilis ), which has no PFB and lacks phototaxis. The absorption spectra of solubilized PFB samples showed a maximum at 415 nm, two shoulders around 380 and 410 nm and two additional small peaks at 515 and 540 nm not present in the control sample without PFB. Two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis showed eight PFB‐specific proteins with molecular masses in the range of 25000–45000 and isoelectric points in the range of pH 3.5–7. Ultraviolet radiation strongly affects some of these PFB‐specific proteins, but also flagella proteins are damaged by UV treatment. There is also a drastic decrease in the PFB‐specific absorption maxima after UV irradiation.