Summary
Evidence has been presented that a soluble fraction from R. rubrum cells contains two new primary carboxylation reactions which depend on the reducing power of ferredoxin: (a) pyruvate synthase which brings about a synthesis of pyruvate from acetyl-CoA and CO2 and (b) α-ketoglutarate synthase which brings about a synthesis of α-ketoglutarate from succinyl-CoA and CO2. The soluble fraction of R. rubrum cells contains also a series of other enzymes which, together with the ferredoxin-dependent enzymes, constitutes a reductive carboxylic acid cycle—a new cyclic pathway for CO2 assimilation that was first found in the photosynthetic bacterium, Chlorobium thiosulfatophilum.
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Dedicated to C. B. van Niel on the occasion of his 70th birthday.
Aided by grants from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation.
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Buchanan, B.B., Evans, M.C.W. & Arnon, D.I. Ferredoxin-dependent carbon assimilation in Rhodospirillum rubrum . Archiv. Mikrobiol. 59, 32–40 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00406314
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00406314