title: Carotenoid biosynthesis in photosynthetic bacteria. Genetic characterization of the Rhodobacter capsulatus CrtI protein.
abstract: Carotenoids are photoprotective pigments present in many photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic organisms. The desaturation of phytoene into phytofluene is an early step in the biosynthetic pathway that in the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus is mediated by the product of the crtI gene. Here we report the sequence of this gene and the identification of CrtI as a membrane protein of approximate Mr 60,000. Mutant strains with 5-fold lower or 10-fold higher levels of CrtI with respect to wild type have only small differences in their carotenoid content, indicating that the cellular concentration of CrtI is not a limiting factor in carotenoid biosynthesis. However, a correlation was found between the levels of CrtI and the formation of a photosynthetic antenna system.
authors.affiliation: Du Pont Plant Science Group, Central Research and Development Department, Wilmington, Delaware 19880-0402.
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Bartley
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Scolnik
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001483:Base Sequence; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins; D012241:Rhodopseudomonas / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins; D002338:Carotenoids