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. 1982 Oct;70(4):987–993. doi: 10.1104/pp.70.4.987

In Vitro Synthesis of the Chlorophyll Isocyclic Ring 1

Transformation of Magnesium-Protoporphyrin IX and Magnesium-Protoporphyrin IX Monomethyl Ester into Magnesium-2,4-Divinyl Pheoporphyrin A5

Barbara M Chereskin 1, Yum-Shing Wong 1, Paul A Castelfranco 1,2
PMCID: PMC1065812  PMID: 16662656

Abstract

Developing chloroplasts of Cucumis sativus L., cv Beit Alpha which were incubated with either Mg-protoporphyrin IX or Mg-protoporphyrin IX monomethyl ester in darkness produced a partially phototransformable protochlorophyllide species that was tentatively identified as Mg-2,4-divinyl pheoporphyrin a5. S-Adenosylmethionine stimulated Mg-2,4-divinyl pheoporphyrin a5 formation irrespective of the starting material used. In the case of Mg-protoporphyrin IX monomethyl ester, this stimulation was attributed to the need to remethylate substrate that had been hydrolyzed by an endogenous methylesterase which converts part of the added Mg-protoporphyrin IX monomethyl ester to Mg-protoporphyrin IX.

NADP and NADPH stimulated the conversion of Mg-protoporphyrin IX to Mg-2,4-divinyl pheoporphyrin a5. The conversion required oxygen and was half saturated at 50 micromolar dissolved O2. The conversion was insensitive to inhibitors of iron-sulfur and heme-containing proteins, to Cu chelators, H2O2, and peroxide scavengers. However, the conversion was extremely sensitive to phenazine methosulfate, methylene blue, and methyl viologen.

A decrease of the plastids' ability to convert Mg-protoporphyrin IX to Mg-2,4-divinyl pheoporphyrin a5 after lysis in 0.1 molar NaCl suggested a requirement for plastid integrity.

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Selected References

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