Chlorophylls

Yuichi Fujita, Nagoya University, Chikusa‐ku, Nagoya, Japan

Published online: May 2005

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0003887

Chlorophylls are a group of cyclic tetrapyrrole pigments that are involved in the light reactions of photosynthesis. All chlorophylls are synthesized from 5-aminolaevulinic acid via multiple enzymatic reactions.

Keywords: photosynthesis; photosystems; light-harvesting complex; reaction center; tetrapyrrole

Figure 1. (a, b) Two different nomenclature systems used in porphyrin and Chl chemistry: (a) the IUPAC nomenclature; (b) Fischer's nomenclature. (c–e) Three oxidation states of the cyclic tetrapyrroles present in Chls and BChls: (c) porphyrin; (d) chlorin (17,18-dihydroporphyrin); (e) bacteriochlorin (7,8,17,18-tetrahydroporphyrin). (f–i) Structures of Chl a and its derivatives lacking the magnesium ion and/or phytol: (f) Chl a; (g) chlorophyllide a; (h) pheophytin a; (i) pheophorbide a.
Figure 2. Structure of various Chls (a) and BChls (b). (a) Chls a, b, c and d. Differences in side-chains of Chls b, c and d from Chl a are highlighted with yellow boxes. (b) BChls a, b, c, d, e, g and Zn-BChl a. Differences in side-chains, ring oxidation state, and the central metal ion of BChls b, c, d, e, g and Zn-BChl a are highlighted with yellow boxes. See Table 2 for R1 (C7) and R2 (C8) in Chls c, and R1 (C7), R2 (C8), R3 (C12) and R4 (C20) in BChls c, d and e.
Figure 3. Biosynthetic route of Chls and BChls. Early steps of the Chl biosynthesis from the ALA formation to protoporphyrin IX. These steps are common to haem biosynthesis.
Figure 4. Biosynthetic route of Chls and BChls. Mg branch. Late steps from protoporphyrin IX are specific for Chls and BChls. Modifications of the intermediates at various stages are highlighted with a yellow box.
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 References
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 Further Reading
    book Aro E-M and Andersson B (2001) Regulation of Photosynthesis. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.
    book Blankenship RE (2002) Molecular Mechanisms of Photosynthesis. Oxford: Blackwell Science.
    book Blankenship RE, Madigan MT and Bauer CE (eds) (1995) Anoxygenic Photosynthetic Bacteria. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.
    book Bryant DA (ed.) (1994) The Molecular Biology of Cyanobacteria. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.
    book Kadish KM, Smith KM and Guilard R (eds) (2003) "The Porphyrin Handbook", vol. 12, The Iron and Cobalt Pigments: Biosynthesis, Synthesis, and Degradation. Oxford: Academic Press.
    book Kadish KM, Smith KM and Guilard R (eds) (2003) "The Porphyrin Handbook", vol. 13, Chlorophylls and Bilins: Biosynthesis, Synthesis, and Degradation. Oxford: Academic Press.
    Merritt JE and Loening KL (1979) Nomenclature of tetrapyrroles. Pure and Applied Chemistry 51: 2251–2304.
    book Ort DR and Yocum CF (eds) (1996) Oxygenic Photosynthesis: The Light Reactions. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.
    Schubert W-D, Klukas O, Saenger W et al. (1998) A common ancestor for oxygenic and anoxygenic photosynthetic systems: a comparison based on the structural model of photosystem I. Journal of Molecular Biology 280: 297–314.
    book Sheer H (ed.) (1991) Chlorophylls. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
    Willows RD (2003) Biosynthesis of chlorophylls from protoporphyrin IX. Natural Products Reports 20: 327–341.
    Xiong J and Bauer CE (2002) Complex evolution of photosynthesis. Annual Review of Plant Biology 53: 503–521.

Related Sub-Topics:

Other Biomolecules: Structure, Function, Metabolism | Bioenergetics | Microbial Photosynthesis | Photosynthesis
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Article Title: Chlorophylls
 
How to Cite close
Fujita, Yuichi(May 2005) Chlorophylls. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0003887]