Study reveals how light activates enzyme to make chlorophyll

Source:Xinhua Published: 2019/10/29 15:17:43

A tea farmer presents a handful of newly-picked tea leaves at the Lushan Yunwu Tea Base in Jiujiang City, east China's Jiangxi Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Haiyan)


 
An international team of researchers have discovered the structure of an enzyme that is essential for photosynthesis, revealing how light activates the enzyme to make chlorophyll, the green pigment for life.

To date, scientists have only found three light-activated enzymes in nature. The study focused on protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (POR) that is responsible for making chlorophyll in plants.

Researchers from the University of Manchester, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Zhejiang University of Technology and other research institutions reported in the journal Nature that the revealed structure shows how the POR enzyme captures light and channels it to drive a crucial biological reaction involved in chlorophyll synthesis.

They found that light activates protochlorophyllide, a precursor of chlorophyll, within the enzyme to drive the breaking of chemical bonds and creating reactions.

The team said the research provides an understanding of the structural basis for harnessing light energy to drive catalysis in the enzyme, which is crucial for light-to-chemical energy conversion and energy flow in the biosphere.

It may also open the door to the bioengineering of artificial light-activated enzymes in the future, said the researchers.

Posted in: BIOLOGY

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