LCIB in the Chlamydomonas CO2-concentrating mechanism

The CO2-concentrating mechanism confers microalgae a versatile and efficient strategy for adapting to a wide range of environmental CO2 concentrations. LCIB, which has been demonstrated as a key player in the eukaryotic algal CO2-concentrating mechanism (CCM), is a novel protein in Chlamydomonas lacking any recognizable domain or motif, and its exact function in the CCM has not been clearly defined. The unique air-dier growth phenotype and photosynthetic characteristics in the LCIB mutants, and re-localization of LCIB between different subcellular locations in response to different levels of CO2, have indicated that the function of LCIB is closely associated with a distinct low CO2 acclimation state. Here, we review physiological and molecular evidence linking LCIB with inorganic carbon accumulation in the CCM and discuss the proposed function of LCIB in several inorganic carbon uptake/accumulation pathways. Several new molecular characteristics of LCIB also are presented.