Publication Date:
1990-06-15
Description:
The bacterial photosynthetic reaction center (RC) is a pigmented intrinsic membrane protein that performs the primary charge separation event of photosynthesis, thereby converting light to chemical energy. The RC pigments are bound primarily by two homologous peptides, the L and M subunits, each containing five transmembrane helices. These alpha helices and pigments are arranged in an approximate C2 symmetry and form two possible electron transfer pathways. Only one of these pathways is actually used. In an attempt to identify nonhomologous residues that are responsible for functional differences between the two branches, homologous helical regions that interact extensively with the pigments were genetically symmetrized (that is, exchanged). For example, replacement of the fourth transmembrane helix (D helix) in the M subunit with the homologous helix from the L subunit yields photosynthetically inactive RCs lacking a critical photoactive pigment. Photosynthetic revertants have been isolated in which single amino acid substitutions (intragenic suppressors) compensate for this partial symmetrization.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Robles, S J -- Breton, J -- Youvan, D C -- RIGM42645A/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 1990 Jun 15;248(4961):1402-5.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Graduate Program in Applied Biological Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2192455" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Amino Acid Sequence
;
*Bacterial Proteins/genetics
;
Cloning, Molecular
;
Electron Transport
;
Macromolecular Substances
;
Molecular Sequence Data
;
Molecular Structure
;
Mutation
;
Photosynthesis
;
Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins
;
Protein Conformation
;
Rhodopseudomonas/analysis/genetics/growth & development
;
Spectrophotometry
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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