Chlorophyll synthase explained

In enzymology, chlorophyll synthase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction

chlorophyllide a + phytyl diphosphate

chlorophyll a + diphosphate

The two substrates of this enzyme are chlorophyllide a and phytyl diphosphate; its two products are chlorophyll a and diphosphate. The same enzyme can act on chlorophyllide b to form chlorophyll b and similarly for chlorophyll d and f.^[1] This enzyme belongs to the family of transferases, specifically those transferring aryl or alkyl groups other than methyl groups. The systematic name of this enzyme class is chlorophyllide-a:phytyl-diphosphate phytyltransferase. This reaction is the final step of the complete biosynthetic pathway to chlorophylls from glutamic acid.^{[2] [3]}

See also

• Biosynthesis of chlorophylls

Further reading

• Schmid HC, Rassadina V, Oster U, Schoch S, Rüdiger W . Pre-loading of chlorophyll synthase with tetraprenyl diphosphate is an obligatory step in chlorophyll biosynthesis . Biological Chemistry . 383 . 11 . 1769–1778 . November 2002 . 12530542 . 10.1515/BC.2002.198 . 3099209 .
• Oster U, Bauer CE, Rüdiger W . Characterization of chlorophyll a and bacteriochlorophyll a synthases by heterologous expression in Escherichia coli . The Journal of Biological Chemistry . 272 . 15 . 9671–9676 . April 1997 . 9092496 . 10.1074/jbc.272.15.9671 . free .
• Rüdiger W, Benz J, Guthoff C . Detection and partial characterization of activity of chlorophyll synthetase in etioplast membranes . European Journal of Biochemistry . 109 . 1 . 193–200 . August 1980 . 7408876 . 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1980.tb04784.x .

Notes and References

1. Tsuzuki Y, Tsukatani Y, Yamakawa H, Itoh S, Fujita Y, Yamamoto H . Effects of Light and Oxygen on Chlorophyll d Biosynthesis in a Marine Cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina . Plants . 11 . 7 . 915 . March 2022 . 35406896 . 10.3390/plants11070915 . 9003380 . free .
2. Willows RD . Biosynthesis of chlorophylls from protoporphyrin IX . Natural Product Reports . 20 . 3 . 327–341 . June 2003 . 12828371 . 10.1039/B110549N .
3. Bollivar DW . Recent advances in chlorophyll biosynthesis . Photosynthesis Research . 90 . 2 . 173–194 . November 2006 . 17370354 . 10.1007/s11120-006-9076-6 . 23808539 .