S. Reinbothe et C. Reinbothe, THE REGULATION OF ENZYMES INVOLVED IN CHLOROPHYLL BIOSYNTHESIS, European journal of biochemistry, 237(2), 1996, pp. 323-343
All living organisms contain tetrapyrroles. In plants, chlorophyll (ch
lorophyll a plus chlorophyll b) is the most abundant and probably most
important tetrapyrrole. It is involved in light absorption and energy
transduction during photosynthesis, Chlorophyll is synthesized from t
he intact carbon skeleton of glutamate via the C-5 pathway. This pathw
ay takes place in the chloroplast. It is the aim of this review to sum
marize the current knowledge on the biochemistry and molecular biology
of the C-5-pathway enzymes, their regulated expression in response to
light, and the impact of chlorophyll biosynthesis on chloroplast deve
lopment. Particular emphasis will be placed on the key regulatory step
s of chlorophyll biosynthesis in higher plants, such as 5-aminolevulin
ic acid formation, the production of Mg2+-protoporphyrin IX, and light
-dependent protochlorophyllide reduction.