Isolation of CF0CF1 from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cw15 and the N-terminal amino acid sequences of the CF0CF1 subunits

CF0CF1 was isolated from chloroplasts of the cell wall-deficient Chlamydomonas reinhardtii strain cw15. The subunit pattern was analyzed by SDS-gel electrophoresis and the IV-terminal amino acid sequences of all nine subunits were determined by microsequencing. The amino acid sequences of subunits alpha, beta, gamma and epsilon match with those derived from the corresponding Chlamydomonus DNA sequences, In variance with the previously assumed N-terminus of beta; however it was found that the first 11 amino acids are lacking, The subunits delta, I, II, III and IV were identified by comparison with known sequences of homologous polypeptides of higher plant chloroplasts and cyanobacteria, respectively.