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Isolation and Characterization of Intact Phycobilisome in Cyanobacteria
Published on: November 10, 2021
The 17-propionate function of (bacterio)chlorophylls: biological implication of their long esterifying chains in
Hitoshi Tamiaki1, Reiko Shibata, Tadashi Mizoguchi
1Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu, Japan. tamiaki@se.ritsumei.ac.jp
Abstract:
Molecular structures of (bacterio)chlorophylls [= (B)Chls] in photosynthetic apparatus are surveyed, and a diversity of the ester groups of the 17-propionate substituent is particularly focused on in this review. In oxygenic photosynthetic species including green plants and algae, the ester of Chl molecules is limited to a phytyl group. Geranylgeranyl and farnesyl groups in addition to phytyl are observed in (B)Chl molecules inside photosynthetic proteins of anoxygenic bacteria. In main light-harvesting antennas of green bacteria (chlorosomes), a greater variety of ester groups including long straight chains are used in the composite BChl molecules. This diversity is ascribable to the fact that chlorosomal BChls self-aggregate to form a core part of chlorosomes without any specific interaction of oligopeptides. Biological significance of the long chains is discussed in photosynthetic apparatus, especially in chlorosomes.
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