The green algae CO2 concentrating mechanism and photorespiration jointly operate during acclimation to low CO2

Ousmane Dao, Marie Bertrand, Saleh Alseekh, Florian Veillet, Pascaline Auroy, Phuong-Chi Nguyen, Bertrand Légeret, Virginie Epting, Amélie Morin, Stephan Cuiné, Caroline L. Monteil, Luke C. M. Mackinder, Adrien Burlacot, Anja Krieger-Liszkay, Andreas P. M. Weber, Alisdair R. Fernie, Gilles Peltier () and Yonghua Li-Beisson ()
Additional contact information
Ousmane Dao: CEA Cadarache
Marie Bertrand: CEA Cadarache
Saleh Alseekh: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology
Florian Veillet: CEA Cadarache
Pascaline Auroy: CEA Cadarache
Phuong-Chi Nguyen: CEA Cadarache
Bertrand Légeret: CEA Cadarache
Virginie Epting: CEA Cadarache
Amélie Morin: CEA Cadarache
Stephan Cuiné: CEA Cadarache
Caroline L. Monteil: CEA Cadarache
Luke C. M. Mackinder: University of York
Adrien Burlacot: The Carnegie Institution for Science
Anja Krieger-Liszkay: CEDEX
Andreas P. M. Weber: Heinrich Heine University
Alisdair R. Fernie: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology
Gilles Peltier: CEA Cadarache
Yonghua Li-Beisson: CEA Cadarache

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Due to low availability of CO2 in aquatic environment, microalgae have evolved a CO2 concentrating mechanism (CCM). It has long been thought that operation of CCM would suppress photorespiration by increasing the CO2 concentration at the Rubisco active site, but experimental evidence is scarce. To better explore the function of photorespiration in algae, we first characterized a Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mutant defected in low-CO2 inducible 20 (LCI20) and show that LCI20 is a chloroplast-envelope glutamate/malate transporter playing a role in photorespiration. By monitoring growth and glycolate excretion in mutants deficient in either CCM or photorespiration, we conclude that: (i.) CCM induction does not depend on photorespiration, (ii.) glycolate excretion together with glycolate dehydrogenase down-regulation prevents the toxic accumulation of non-metabolized photorespiratory metabolites, and (iii.) photorespiration is active at low CO2 when the CCM is operational. This work provides a foundation for a better understanding of the carbon cycle in the ocean where significant glycolate concentrations have been found.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60525-7

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