Thesis abstract:

«p style="text-align:justify"»The molecular mechanisms of photosensing in photosynthetic organisms remain as a new research frontier. The multiple copies of different photoreceptors reflect the adaptability of cyanobacteria to different light conditions and most of these photoreceptors contain GAF domain as the photosensor to sense the variation of ambient light. We hypothesized that bilin-based GAF domain-containing photoreceptors are especially important for developing different photo-regulatory pathways, which are vital for cyanobacteria thriving in unique environments.«/p» «p style="text-align:justify"»Ten GAF-containing proteins were found from the sequence prediction of «em»Halomicronema hongdechloris«/em». In addition to RfpA sensing far-red light and regulating FaRLiP, can other GAF-containing proteins also participate in the regulation of photoacclimation as photoreceptors? If there are other photoacclimations in «em»Halomicronema hongdechloris«/em», what kind of photoregulatory mechanisms is used to sense light conditions? Does the putative photoacclimation function in other cyanobacteria, especially Chl «em»f«/em»-producing cyanobacteria?«/p» «p style="text-align:justify"»The overall goal of project is to characterise the biochemical and biophysical properties of GAF-containing photoreceptors in the cyanobacterium «em»Halomicronema hongdechloris«/em», and to reveal the their role in the photo-regulatory pathway governing the synthesis of the photosynthetic apparatus.«/p»