STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL DIVERSITY OF FERREDOXINS AND RELATED PROTEINS

This chapter discusses ferredoxins and related proteins that are relatively recently reported. in particular, the diverse structural and functional features of these proteins in one organism are emphasized. The chapter presents a number of aspects of the structure and functional diversity of ferredoxins and their homologues. However, recent studies conducted with spinach chloroplasts are very interesting in demonstrating that ATP and NADPH are required to form the Fe–S cluster of spinach ferredoxin, when cysteine is used as the sulfur donor. This study is still in progress and there is no evidence as of now if the same mechanism as suggested for the spinach chloroplast system can be true also for other Fe–S proteins. There is no doubt that other important and interesting ferredoxins and related proteins will continue to be found, and their physical and chemical characterizations, as well as studies of their physiological roles, will further broaden knowledge about this important and diverse group of proteins. © 1992 Academic Press, Inc.