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The photosynthesis gene cluster of Rhodobacter sphaeroides

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Abstract

The photosynthetic bacteria are at the forefront of the study of many aspects of photosynthesis, including photopigment biosynthesis, photosynthetic-membrane assembly, light-harvesting, and reaction center photochemistry. The facultative growth of some photosynthetic bacteria, their simple photosystems, and their ease of genetic manipulation have all contributed to advances in these areas. Amongst these bacteria, the purple non-sulfur bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides has emerged as, arguably, the leading contender for a model system in which to integrate the studies of all the different aspects of the assembly and function of the photosynthetic apparatus. Many of the genes encoding photosynthesis-related proteins are known to be clustered within a small region of the genome in this organism. As a further aid to studying the assembly and function of the photosystem of Rb. sphaeroides, the DNA sequence for a genomic segment containing this photosynthesis gene cluster (PGC) has been assembled from previous EMBL submissions and formerly unpublished data. The Rb. sphaeroides PGC is 40.7 kb in length and consists of 38 open reading frames encoding the reaction center H, L and M subunits, the α and β polypeptides of the light-harvesting I (B875) complex, and the enzymes of bacteriochlorophyll and carotenoid biosynthesis. PGCs are a feature of gene organization in several photosynthetic bacteria, and the similarities between the clusters of Rb. sphaeroides and Rb. capsulatus have been apparent for some time. Here we present the first comprehensive analysis of the PGC of Rb. sphaeroides, as well as a comparison with that of Rb. capsulatus.

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Author notes

  1. Lucien Charles Donald Gibson

    Present address: CRC Beatson Laboratories, Garscube Estate, Switchback Road, Glasgow, G61 1BD, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Robert Hill Institute for Photosynthesis and Krebs Institute for Biomolecular Research, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

    Grant William Naylor, Hugh Alistair Addlesee, Lucien Charles Donald Gibson & Christopher Neil Hunter

  2. Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Firth Court, Sheffield, S10 2TN

    Christopher Neil Hunter

Authors
  1. Grant William Naylor
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  2. Hugh Alistair Addlesee
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  3. Lucien Charles Donald Gibson
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  4. Christopher Neil Hunter
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Naylor, G.W., Addlesee, H.A., Gibson, L.C.D. et al. The photosynthesis gene cluster of Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Photosynthesis Research 62, 121–139 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006350405674

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