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A Null Mutant of Synechococcus sp. PCC7942 Deficient in the Sulfolipid Sulfoquinovosyl Diacylglycerol

1996; Elsevier BV; Volume: 271; Issue: 13 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1074/jbc.271.13.7501

1083-351X

Sinan Güler, A. G. Seeliger, Heiko Härtel, Г. Ренгер, Christoph Benning,

ATP Synthase and ATPases Research

The sulfolipid 6-sulfo-α-D-quinovosyldiacylglycerol is associated with the thylakoid membranes of many photosynthetic organisms. Previously, genes involved in sulfolipid biosynthesis have been characterized only in the purple bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides . Unlike plants and cyanobacteria, photosynthesis in this bacterium is anoxygenic due to the lack of a water splitting photosystem II. To test the function of sulfolipid in an organism with oxygenic photosynthesis, we isolated and inactivated a sulfolipid gene of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC7942. Extensive analysis of the sulfolipid-deficient null mutant revealed subtle changes in photosynthesis related biochemistry of O 2 . In addition, a slight increase in the variable room temperature chlorophyll fluorescence yield was observed. Regardless of these changes, it seems unlikely that sulfolipid is an essential constituent of a functional competent water oxidase or the core antenna complex of photosystem II. However, reduced growth of the mutant under phosphate-limiting conditions supports the hypothesis that sulfolipid acts as a surrogate for anionic phospholipids under phosphate-limiting growth conditions.