NEW TYPES OF REACTION CENTERS USING CHLOROPHYLL d AND Zn-BACTERIOCHLOROPHYLL a

Two new types of reaction center (RC) complexes were isolated. The first is the PS I type RC purified from a cyanobacteria-like prokaryote Acatyochloris marina (1) that contains an atypical pigment chlorophyll d (Chl d, see Fig. 2). Cells of A.marina contains Chl d and Chl a in a molar ratio of 30:1, phycobilins, a-caroten, zeaxanthin and a trace amount of CM c -like pigment (2). The organism grows photoautotrophically (3), evolves oxygen even with 712 nm light (4), gives fluorescence induction (5). We isolated the PS 1 RC complex from A. marina that contains almost no Chl a (6) and identified a new type of electron donor chlorophyll that was named P740.