Circadian protein regulation in the green lineage I. A phospho-dawn anticipates light onset before proteins peak in daytime.

Diel regulation of protein levels and protein modification had been less studied than transcript rhythms. Here, we compare transcriptome data under light-dark cycles to partial proteome and phosphoproteome data, assayed using shotgun mass-spectrometry, from the alga Ostreococcus tauri, the smallest free-living eukaryote. 10% of quantified proteins but two-thirds of phosphoproteins were rhythmic. Mathematical modelling showed that light-stimulated protein synthesis can account for the observed clustering of protein peaks in the daytime. Prompted by night-peaking and apparently dark-stable proteins, we also tested cultures under prolonged darkness, where the proteome changed less than under the diel cycle. The dark-stable, prasinophyte-specific proteins were also reported to accumulate when O. tauri formed lipid droplets. In the phosphoproteome, 39% of rhythmic phospho-sites reached peak levels just before dawn. This anticipatory phosphorylation suggests that a clock-regulated phospho-dawn prepares green cells for daytime functions. Acid-directed and proline-directed protein phosphorylation sites were regulated in antiphase, implicating the clock-related, casein kinases 1 and 2 in phase-specific regulation, alternating with the CMGC protein kinase family. Understanding the dynamic phosphoprotein network should be facilitated by the minimal kinome and proteome of O. tauri. The data are available from ProteomeXchange, with identifiers PXD001734, PXD001735 and PXD002909. This submission updates a previous version, posted on bioRxiv on 4th April 2018, as https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/287862v1 HighlightThe phosphorylation of most protein sites was rhythmic under light-dark cycles, and suggested circadian control by particular kinases. Day-peaking, rhythmic proteins likely reflect light-stimulated protein synthesis in this microalga.