NADPH:protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase from Synechocystis:: overexpression, purification and preliminary characterisation

NADPH:protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (POR) catalyses the light-dependent reduction of protochlorophyllide to chlorophyllide, a key regulatory reaction in the chlorophyll biosynthetic pathway. POR from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis has been overproduced in Escherichia coli with a hexahistidine tag at the N-terminus. This enzyme (His(6)-POR) has been purified to homogeneity and a preliminary characterisation of its kinetic and substrate binding properties is presented. Chemical modification experiments have been used to demonstrate inhibition of POR activity by the thiol-specific reagent N-ethyl maleimide. Substrate protection experiments reveal that the modified Cys residues are involved in either substrate binding or catalysis. (C) 2000 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.