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. 1984 Dec;81(23):7303–7307. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.23.7303

Primary structure of the L subunit of the reaction center from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides.

J C Williams, L A Steiner, G Feher, M I Simon
PMCID: PMC392134  PMID: 6095283

Abstract

The reaction center is an integral membrane protein that, together with several cofactors, mediates the primary photochemical events in bacterial photosynthesis. The amino-terminal sequences of the three subunits, L, M, and H, of the reaction center protein and the sequence of the structural gene encoding the M subunit have been reported previously. In the present study, we found that the 3' end of the structural gene encoding the L subunit overlaps by eight bases the 5' end of the gene encoding the M subunit. The primary structure of the L subunit has been determined from the nucleotide sequence of the gene and from analyses of the amino and carboxyl termini of the protein. The sequences of a number of tryptic and chymotryptic peptides were used to corroborate the nucleotide sequence. The L subunit was found to be composed of 281 amino acids (Mr 31,319) and to contain five hydrophobic segments. It is homologous to the M subunit and to a plant thylakoid protein referred to as the QB or Mr 32,000 protein.

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Selected References

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