U. Oster et al., CHARACTERIZATION OF CHLOROPHYLL-A AND BACTERIOCHLOROPHYLL A SYNTHASESBY HETEROLOGOUS EXPRESSION IN ESCHERICHIA-COLI, The Journal of biological chemistry, 272(15), 1997, pp. 9671-9676
Genes coding for putative chlorophyll a synthase (chlG) from Synechocy
stis sp, PCC 6803 and bacteriochlorophyll a synthase (bchG) from Rhodo
bacter capsulatus were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction and
cloned into T7 RNA polymerase-based expression plasmids, In vitro enzy
matic assays indicated that heterologous expression of the chlG and bc
hG gene products in Escherichia coli conferred chlorophyll a and bacte
riochlorophyll a synthase activity, respectively, Chlorophyll a syntha
se utilized chlorophyllide a, but not bacteriochlorophyllide a, as a s
ubstrate, whereas bacteriochlorophyll a synthase utilized bacteriochlo
rophyllide a, but not chlorophyllide a. Both enzymes were also observe
d to exhibit a marked preference for phytyl diphosphate over geranylge
ranyl diphosphate.