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The Pathway of Chlorophyll Degradation: Catabolites, Enzymes and Pathway Regulation

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Plastid Development in Leaves during Growth and Senescence

Part of the book series: Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration ((AIPH,volume 36))

Summary

During leaf senescence and fruit ripening, chlorophyll is broken down to colorless linear tetrapyrroles, which are stored in the vacuoles of degreened cells. The pathway of chlorophyll degradation that is active in these developmental processes is fairly well known regarding its biochemistry and cell biology. It comprises at least six enzymatic and one non-enzymatic reaction and the chemical structures of several intermediary and final chlorophyll catabolites have been elucidated. In the last few years, genes coding for a number of chlorophyll catabolic enzymes have been characterized and mutants in these genes have been analyzed. This includes pheophorbide a oxygenase (PAO), the key enzyme of the pathway, which is responsible for opening of the chlorine macrocycle present in chlorophyll, thereby providing the characteristic structural basis of all further downstream breakdown products. The pathway is therefore nowadays termed the ‘PAO pathway’. This review summarizes information on the structures of chlorophyll breakdown products and the reactions involved in their formation. In addition cell biological and regulatory aspects of the PAO pathway are discussed.

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Abbreviations

ABC:

ATP binding cassette;

ACD:

Accelerated cell death;

Chl:

Chlorophyll;

Chlide:

Chlorophyllide;

CLH:

Chlorophyllase;

Fd:

Ferre­doxin;

hFCC –:

Hypermodified fluorescent Chl catabo­lite;

HMR:

Hydroxymethyl Chl reductase;

LHC:

Light harvesting complex;

MCS:

Metal chelating substance;

mFCC –:

Modified fluorescent Chl catabolite;

NCC:

Nonfluorescent Chl catabolite;

NOL:

NYC1-like;

NYC:

Non yellow coloring;

NYE:

Non yellowing;

PAO:

Pheophorbide a oxygenase;

pFCC:

Primary fluorescent Chl catabolite;

Pheide:

Pheophorbide;

Phein:

Pheophytin;

PPH:

Pheophytinase;

PS:

Photosystem;

RCC:

Red chl catabolite;

RCCR:

Red Chl catabolite reductase;

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Bernhard Kräutler for many stimulating discussions and fruitful long-term collaboration. Many thanks also to my present and former group members for their important contributions in the area of chlorophyll breakdown. I thank Helen Ougham for critical reading and language editing of the manuscript. My work is financially supported by grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation and by the National Center of Competence in Research Plant Survival, a research program of the Swiss National Science Foundation.

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  1. Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, CH-8008, Zurich, Switzerland

    Stefan Hörtensteiner

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  1. , School of Life Sciences, Sambalpur University, Jyotivihar, Sambalpur, 768019, Orissa, India

    Basanti Biswal

  2. Botanisches Institut, Universität Kiel, Olshausenstr. 40, Kiel, 24118, Germany

    Karin Krupinska

  3. School of Life Sciences, Sambalpur University, Orissa, 768 019, India

    Udaya C. Biswal

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Hörtensteiner, S. (2013). The Pathway of Chlorophyll Degradation: Catabolites, Enzymes and Pathway Regulation. In: Biswal, B., Krupinska, K., Biswal, U. (eds) Plastid Development in Leaves during Growth and Senescence. Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration, vol 36. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5724-0_16

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