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. 1971 Sep;48(3):316–319. doi: 10.1104/pp.48.3.316

Studies on the Biosynthesis and Metabolism of δ-Aminolevulinic Acid in Chlorella1

Samuel I Beale a,2
PMCID: PMC396857  PMID: 16657789

Abstract

The regulation of chlorophyll synthesis in Chlorella was examined at the level of the formation and metabolism of δ-aminolevulinic acid. δ-Aminolevulinic acid synthetase activity could not be detected in broken cell preparations, and exogenously supplied δ-aminolevulinic acid was taken up only in the presence of dimethylsulfoxide, with a corresponding production of porphobilinogen.

The δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase of Chlorella has a pH optimum of 7.8 and at this pH the Michaelis constant for δ-aminolevulinic acid is 0.13 millimolar.

δ-Aminolevulinic acid excretion in the presence of levulinic acid, a competitive inhibitor of δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase, allowed measurement of the relative rates of δ-aminolevulinic acid synthesis under various growth conditions. A mutant which requires light for chlorophyll synthesis also requires light for δ-aminolevulinic acid accumulation in the presence of levulinic acid. This same mutant has 40% of the δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase activity of the wild-type Chlorella during growth in the dark on glucose.

The necessity for protein synthesis during chlorophyll synthesis is due primarily to the requirement for protein synthesis during δ-aminolevulinic acid formation.

It is concluded that the rate of chlorophyll formation and the cellular chlorophyll content are regulated by the relative rates of synthesis and breakdown of an enzyme responsible for δ-aminolevulinic acid biosynthesis and that this enzyme has an in vivo lifetime of about 30 minutes.

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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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