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Laboratory Simulation of an Iron(II)-rich Precambrian Marine Upwelling System to Explore the Growth of Photosynthetic Bacteria
Published on: July 24, 2016
Iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis in photosynthetic organisms
Dorothea Kessler1, Jutta Papenbrock
1Biochemiezentrum Heidelberg, Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 328, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
Abstract:
Iron-sulfur (Fe/S) cluster containing proteins are widely distributed in nature and are involved in numerous processes including electron transfer, metabolic reactions, sensing, signaling, and regulation of gene expression. The knowledge about the biogenesis of Fe/S clusters, and the assembly and maturation of Fe/S cluster containing proteins is still limited, especially in photosynthetic organisms. In most organisms analyzed so far the biogenesis of Fe/S clusters involves more than one machinery. The additional compartment in photoautotrophic organisms, the plastids, presents an additional challenge for the regulation of Fe/S cluster biogenesis. The requirement for Fe/S proteins in multiple chloroplast processes argues that Fe/S cluster assembly is an essential part of plastid functionality. This review focuses on the interesting and unique aspects of Fe/S cluster biogenesis in photosynthetic organisms and compares them to what is known in other organisms.
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