title: Biosynthesis of Chlorophyll a in a Purple Bacterial Phototroph and Assembly into a Plant Chlorophyll-Protein Complex.
abstract: Improvements to photosynthetic efficiency could be achieved by manipulating pigment biosynthetic pathways of photosynthetic organisms in order to increase the spectral coverage for light absorption. The development of organisms that can produce both bacteriochlorophylls and chlorophylls is one way to achieve this aim, and accordingly we have engineered the bacteriochlorophyll-utilizing anoxygenic phototroph Rhodobacter sphaeroides to make chlorophyll a. Bacteriochlorophyll and chlorophyll share a common biosynthetic pathway up to the precursor chlorophyllide. Deletion of genes responsible for the bacteriochlorophyll-specific modifications of chlorophyllide and replacement of the native bacteriochlorophyll synthase with a cyanobacterial chlorophyll synthase resulted in the production of chlorophyll a. This pigment could be assembled in vivo into the plant water-soluble chlorophyll protein, heterologously produced in Rhodobacter sphaeroides, which represents a proof-of-principle for the engineering of novel antenna complexes that enhance the spectral range of photosynthesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield , Sheffield S10 2TN, U.K.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hitchcock
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield , Sheffield S10 2TN, U.K.|ChELSI Institute, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield , Sheffield S1 3JD, U.K.
authors.forename: Philip J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield , Sheffield S10 2TN, U.K.
authors.forename: Jack W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Chidgey
authors.affiliation: ChELSI Institute, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield , Sheffield S1 3JD, U.K.
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Dickman
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield , Sheffield S10 2TN, U.K.
authors.forename: C Neil
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield , Sheffield S10 2TN, U.K.
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Canniffe
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D001429:Bacteriochlorophylls / Q000096:biosynthesis; D053898:Biosynthetic Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D000077194:Chlorophyll A; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000378:metabolism; D010788:Photosynthesis / Q000502:physiology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism*; D012242:Rhodobacter sphaeroides / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001429:Bacteriochlorophylls; D010940:Plant Proteins; D002734:Chlorophyll; D000077194:Chlorophyll A
keywords: Rhodobacter sphaeroides; antenna complex; bacteriochlorophyll; chlorophyll; photosynthesis; water-soluble chlorophyll protein