magnesium protoporphyrin chelatase

The enzyme magnesium protoporphyrin chelatase catalyses the insertion of magnesium into protoporphyrin, the first committed step in chlorophyll biosynthesis.

The enzyme magnesium protoporphyrin chelatase catalyses the insertion of magnesium into protoporphyrin, the first committed step in chlorophyll biosynthesis.

##

Mechanism and regulation of Mg-chelatase.

Mechanism and regulation of Mg-chelatase PY1997 IR94 cysteine glutathione

C J Walker and R D Willows

ABSTRACT

Mg-chelatase catalyses the insertion of Mg into protoporphyrin IX (Proto). This seemingly simple reaction also is potentially one of the most interesting and crucial steps in the (bacterio)chlorophyll (Bchl/Chl)-synthesis pathway, owing to its position at the branch-point between haem and Bchl/Chl synthesis. Up until the level of Proto, haem and Bchl/Chl synthesis share a common pathway. However, at the point of metal-ion insertion there are two choices: Mg2+ insertion to make Bchl/Chl (catalysed by Mg-chelatase) or Fe2+ insertion to make haem (catalysed by ferrochelatase). Thus the relative activities of Mg-chelatase and ferrochelatase must be regulated with respect to the organism's requirements for these end products. 

How is this regulation achieved? For Mg-chelatase, the recent design of an in vitro assay combined with the identification of Bchl-biosynthetic enzyme genes has now made it possible to address this question. In all photosynthetic organisms studied to date, Mg-chelatase is a three-component enzyme, and in several species these proteins have been cloned and expressed in an active form. The reaction takes place in two steps, with an ATP-dependent activation followed by an ATP-dependent chelation step. The activation step may be the key to regulation, although variations in subunit levels during diurnal growth may also play a role in determining the flux through the Bchl/Chl and haem branches of the pathway.

##