This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Addlesee, H. A.
Right arrow Articles by Hunter, C. N.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Addlesee, H. A.
Right arrow Articles by Hunter, C. N.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, March 2002, p. 1578-1586, Vol. 184, No. 6
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.6.1578-1586.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Rhodospirillum rubrum Possesses a Variant of the bchP Gene, Encoding Geranylgeranyl-Bacteriopheophytin Reductase

Hugh A. Addlesee,{dagger} and C. Neil Hunter*

Robert Hill Institute for Photosynthesis and Krebs Institute for Biomolecular Research, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom

Received 8 August 2001/ Accepted 20 December 2001

The bchP gene product of Rhodobacter sphaeroides is responsible for the reduction of the isoprenoid moiety of bacteriochlorophyll (Bchl) from geranylgeraniol (GG) to phytol; here, we show that this enzyme also catalyzes the reduction of the isoprenoid moiety of bacteriopheophytin (Bphe). In contrast, we demonstrate that a newly identified homolog of this gene in Rhodospirillum rubrum encodes an enzyme, GG-Bphe reductase, capable of reducing the isoprenoid moiety of Bphe only. We propose that Rhodospirillum rubrum is a naturally occurring bchP mutant and that an insertion mutation may have been the initial cause of a partial loss of function. Normal BchP function can be restored to Rhodospirillum rubrum, creating a new transconjugant strain possessing Bchl esterified with phytol. We speculate on the requirement of Rhodospirillum rubrum for phytylated Bphe and on a potential link between the absence of LH2 and of phytylated Bchl from the wild-type bacterium. The identification of a second role for the fully functional BchP in catalyzing the synthesis of phytylated Bphe strongly suggests that homologs of this enzyme may be similarly responsible for the synthesis of phytylated pheophytin in organisms possessing photosystem 2. In addition to bchP, other members of a photosynthesis gene cluster were identified in Rhodospirillum rubrum, including a bchG gene, demonstrated to encode a functional Bchl synthetase by complementation of a Rhodobacter sphaeroides mutant.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Firth Court, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, United Kingdom. Phone: (0114) 222 4191. Fax: (0114) 222 2711. E-mail: c.n.hunter{at}sheffield.ac.uk.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom.

Journal of Bacteriology, March 2002, p. 1578-1586, Vol. 184, No. 6
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.6.1578-1586.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Sato, S., Murakami, M., Yoshimura, T., Hemmi, H. (2008). Specific Partial Reduction of Geranylgeranyl Diphosphate by an Enzyme from the Thermoacidophilic Archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius Yields a Reactive Prenyl Donor, Not a Dead-End Product. J. Bacteriol. 190: 3923-3929 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gomez Maqueo Chew, A., Frigaard, N.-U., Bryant, D. A. (2008). Identification of the bchP Gene, Encoding Geranylgeranyl Reductase in Chlorobaculum tepidum. J. Bacteriol. 190: 747-749 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hemmi, H., Takahashi, Y., Shibuya, K., Nakayama, T., Nishino, T. (2005). Menaquinone-Specific Prenyl Reductase from the Hyperthermophilic Archaeon Archaeoglobus fulgidus. J. Bacteriol. 187: 1937-1944 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Matsunaga, I., Bhatt, A., Young, D. C., Cheng, T.-Y., Eyles, S. J., Besra, G. S., Briken, V., Porcelli, S. A., Costello, C. E., Jacobs, W. R. Jr., Moody, D. B. (2004). Mycobacterium tuberculosis pks12 Produces a Novel Polyketide Presented by CD1c to T Cells. JEM 200: 1559-1569 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Qian, P., Addlesee, H. A., Ruban, A. V., Wang, P., Bullough, P. A., Hunter, C. N. (2003). A Reaction Center-Light-harvesting 1 Complex (RC-LH1) from a Rhodospirillum rubrum Mutant with Altered Esterifying Pigments: CHARACTERIZATION BY OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY AND CRYO-ELECTRON MICROSCOPY. J. Biol. Chem. 278: 23678-23685 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»