Abstract
SummaryPurple photosynthetic bacteria exhibit great diversity in the metabolism of simple carbon compounds. In this chapter, the reactions and metabolic schemes that the organisms, particularly purple nonsulfur bacteria, employ to break down and/or assimilate one-carbon, two-carbon, three-carbon, and four-carbon compounds and sugars is examined. Knowledge of the biochemistry and physiology of carbon metabolism and its molecular control has benefited somewhat from the application of recombinant DNA approaches, yet there are significant gaps in our understanding of how catabolic and anabolic reaction sequences are integrated. By contrast, great advances have been made relative to the biochemistry of CO2 fixation, due primarily to recent enzymological, molecular, and structural studies of the key enzyme, Rubis CO. Indeed the enzyme from Rhodospirillum rubrum has become the paradigm for such work. The ability to prepare recombinant enzymes that catalyze additional key steps of CO2 fixation should result in similar advances concerning these proteins in the future. Facile genetic manipulation of mutant Rhodobacter and Rhodospirillum strains has already resulted in the uncovering of alternative CO2 assimilatory routes that replace the Calvin cycle, and prospects for gaining an understanding of the biochemistry and molecular control of both schemes should follow. The latter studies probably would not be possible with other organisms, further attesting to the versatility of the purple nonsulfur bacteria for investigating basic metabolic processes. This chapter considers the current state of our knowledge of carbon dioxide fixation and carbon metabolism in purple bacteria.
Published Version
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