Chlorophyll biosynthesis

Chlorophyll is one of the most abundant pigments on Earth and its biosynthesis still challenge researchers.

 

We have identified and characterized mutants affected in chlorophyll biosynthesis. Especially the enzyme which forms the fifth ring of the chlorophyll molecule, the cyclase, has been under investigation. This step is catalyzed, at least in part, by a diiron enzyme (Tottey et al., 2003).

Genetic evidence suggests that there is more than one protein involved in the cyclase step and currently we are exploiting different routes to identify the remaining subunits.