Comparative Analysis of Two-Component Signal Transduction Systems in Six Synechococcus Strains - Two-Component Signal Transduction Systems in Synechococcus

Cyanobacteria are photoautotrophic prokaryotes able to grow in a wide range of ecological environments and their signal transduction systems play important roles for environmental adaptation. Two-component signal transduction (TCST) systems show important roles in prokaryotes. Sequencing information of cyanobacterial genomes offers a unique opportunity to conduct a comprehensive comparative analysis of this signal transduction system. In this study, we extracted information from six species of sequenced Synechococcus and investigated the diversity, gene structure and conservation and phylogeny of the TCST components. A total of 184 predicted proteins were identified in the putative histidine kinases and response regulators. Twelve types additional domains were identified, some of which are reported to participate in the recognition of signals or substrates. The number and structure character of TCST components in different Synechococcus strains are the results of the ecophysiology and physiological properties of the organism. Histidine kinase (HK) and Response Regulators (RR) have different evolutionary history and gene gain-and-loss play important roles during the evolution along with domain shuffling and insertion.