Phytol and Bacteriochlorophyll Synthesis in Rhodopseudomonas spheroides

Phytol has been separated and identified in the unsaponifiable lipid fraction from wild type Rhodopseudomonas spheroides, but it was not detected in mutant strains blocked at various stages of bacteriochlorophyll synthesis. Incorporation of (14)C-acetate into phytol paralleled bacteriochlorophyll synthesis in suspensions of the wild type incubated anaerobically in the light. The addition of chloramphenicol inhibited both processes. It is concluded that phytol formation is tightly coupled to the synthesis of the pyrrole component of bacteriochlorophyll.