Retrograde bilin signaling enables Chlamydomonas greening and phototrophic survival

Here we show that the phytochrome-less chlorophyte Chlamydomonas reinhardtii retains a functional pathway to synthesize the linear tetrapyrrole (bilin) precursor of the phytochrome chromophore. Reverse genetic, metabolic inactivation and bilin rescue experiments establish that this pathway is needed for heme iron acquisition and for the diurnal transition to phototrophic growth. RNA-Seq measurements reveal a bilin-dependent signaling network that is necessary for the heterotrophic to phototrophic transition. These results imply the presence of a novel bilin sensor pathway that may be widely distributed amongst oxygenic photosynthetic organisms. We isolated RNA from heterotrophic suspension cultures of 4A+ WT and the hmox1 mutant grown in the presence or absence of 0.1 mM BV IXα before and after transfer to low light.