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Opposite Chirality of α-carotene in Unusual Cyanobacteria With Unique Chlorophylls, Acaryochloris and Prochlorococcus

Opposite Chirality of α-carotene in Unusual Cyanobacteria With Unique Chlorophylls, Acaryochloris and Prochlorococcus

Shinichi Takaichi, Mari Mochimaru, Hiroko Uchida, Akio Murakami, Euichi Hirose, Takashi Maoka, Tohru Tsuchiya, Mamoru Mimuro

Plant Cell Physiol. 2012 Nov;53(11):1881-8.

PMID: 22968452

Abstract:

Among all photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic prokaryotes, only cyanobacterial species belonging to the genera Acaryochloris and Prochlorococcus have been reported to synthesize α-carotene. We reviewed the carotenoids, including their chirality, in unusual cyanobacteria containing diverse Chls. Predominantly Chl d-containing Acaryochloris (two strains) and divinyl-Chl a and divinyl-Chl b-containing Prochlorococcus (three strains) contained β-carotene and zeaxanthin as well as α-carotene, whereas Chl b-containing Prochlorothrix (one strain) and Prochloron (three isolates) contained only β-carotene and zeaxanthin but no α-carotene as in other cyanobacteria. Thus, the capability to synthesize α-carotene seemed to have been acquired only by Acaryochloris and Prochlorococcus. In addition, we unexpectedly found that α-carotene in both cyanobacteria had the opposite chirality at C-6': (6'S)-chirality in Acaryochloris and normal (6'R)-chirality in Prochlorococcus, as reported in some green algae and land plants. The results represent the first evidence for the natural occurrence and biosynthesis of (6'S)-α-carotene. All the zeaxanthins in these species were of the usual (3R,3'R)-chirality. Therefore, based on the identification of the carotenoids and genome sequence data, we propose a biosynthetic pathway for the carotenoids, particularly α-carotene, including the participating genes and enzymes.

Chemicals Related in the Paper:

Catalog Number	Product Name	Structure	CAS Number	Price
AP7488995	α-Carotene		7488-99-5	Price

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