Physical mapping of bchG, orf427, and orf177 in the photosynthesis gene cluster of Rhodobacter sphaeroides: functional assignment of the bacteriochlorophyll synthetase gene.

ABSTRACT: The purple photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides has within its genome a cluster of photosynthesis-related genes approximately 41 kb in length. In an attempt to identify genes involved in the terminal esterification stage of bacteriochlorophyll biosynthesis, a previously uncharacterized 5-kb region of this cluster was sequenced. Four open reading frames (ORFs) were identified, and each was analyzed by transposon mutagenesis. The product of one of these ORFs, bchG, shows close homologies with (bacterio)chlorophyll synthetases, and mutants in this gene were found to accumulate bacteriopheophorbide, the metal-free derivative of the bacteriochlorophyll precursor bacteriochlorophyllide, suggesting that bchG is responsible for the esterification of bacteriochlorophyllide with an alcoh

SUBMITTER: Addlesee HA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC94504 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature