Photosynthetica 2008, 46(3):321 | DOI: 10.1007/s11099-008-0060-6

MPEC: an important gene in the chlorophyll biosynthesis pathway in photosynthetic organisms

H. H. Liu1, C. C. Zheng1,*
1 State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, College of Life Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University, Shandong, P.R. China

One of the least understood enzymatic steps in chlorophyll biosynthesis is the formation of isocyclic ring, which is catalyzed by the Mg-protoporphyrin IX monomethyl ester (MgPME) cyclase that is involved in the conversion of MgPME to protochlorophyllide. Several genes encoding part of this enzyme have been identified and functional analysis of them has been performed. The enzyme plays important roles in higher plants and photosynthetic bacteria. The review focuses on the current knowledge of MgPME cyclase coding genes, with emphasis on their organization, expression pattern, and functional analysis obtained from mutants.

Additional key words: isocyclic ring; MgPME cyclase

Received: November 20, 2007; Accepted: March 11, 2008; Published: September 1, 2008  Show citation

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Liu, H.H., & Zheng, C.C. (2008). MPEC: an important gene in the chlorophyll biosynthesis pathway in photosynthetic organisms. Photosynthetica, 46(3), 321. doi: 10.1007/s11099-008-0060-6
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