SODIUM ALKYL ETHER SULFATE PREPARATIVE ELECTROPHORESIS FOR THE PREPARATION OF REACTION CENTERS WITHOUT H-SUBUNIT FROM RHODOPSEUDOMONAS-VIRIDIS

Sodium alkyl ether sulfate (AES), an analog of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was used in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) for the pa rtial decomposition of the photosynthetic reaction center (RC) of Rhod opseudomonas viridis. Unlike SDS, AES did not completely dissociate RC into its subunits but selectively detached H-subunit from RC to give RC(-H) without losing the spectroscopic nature of RC. For the denatura tion of RC(-H), AES was found to be as mild as holamidopropyl)dimethyl ammonio]-1-propanesulfonate (CHAPS).