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. 1984 Jan;74(1):146–151. doi: 10.1104/pp.74.1.146

Biosynthesis of Protoheme and Heme a Precursors Solely from Glutamate in the Unicellular Red Alga Cyanidium caldarium1

Jon D Weinstein 1, Samuel I Beale 1
PMCID: PMC1066641  PMID: 16663369

Abstract

Two biosynthetic routes to the heme, chlorophyll, and phycobilin precursor, δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) are known: conversion of the intact five-carbon skeleton of glutamate, and ALA synthase-catalyzed condensation of glycine plus succinyl-coenzyme A. The existence and physiological roles of the two pathways in Cyanidium caldarium were assessed in vivo by determining the relative abilities of [2-14C]glycine and [1-14C]glutamate to label protoheme and heme a. Glutamate was incorporated to a much greater extent than glycine into both protoheme and heme a, even in cells that were unable to form chlorophyll and phycobilins. The small incorporation of glycine could be accounted for by transfer of label to intracellular glutamate pools, as determined from amino acid analysis. It thus appears that C. caldarium makes all tetrapyrroles, including mitochondrial hemes, solely from glutamate, and there is no contribution by ALA synthase in this organism.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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