title: An overlap between operons involved in carotenoid and bacteriochlorophyll biosynthesis in Rhodobacter capsulatus.
abstract: A new example of superoperonal gene arrangement has been documented in the Rhodobacter capsulatus photosynthetic gene cluster. The promoter for the operon initiated by the bchI gene is embedded within an upstream operon for carotenoid synthesis. The stop codon for the crtA gene, the only gene in the first operon, overlaps the start codon of the downstream bchI gene. As a consequence of this overlap, the promoter(s) for the bch operon must be located within the crtA structural gene. The bchI gene is shown here for the first time to be required for the conversion of protoporphyrin IX to subsequent intermediates in bacteriochlorophyll biosynthesis.
authors.affiliation: DuPont Central Research and Development, Science Laboratory, Wilmington, Delaware 19880-0173.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Rudzik
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Marrs
mesh_terms: D001429:Bacteriochlorophylls / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009876:Operon / Q000235:genetics*; D016354:Rhodobacter capsulatus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001429:Bacteriochlorophylls; D002338:Carotenoids