Abstract
The green sulfur bacteria are strictly anaerobic photototrophic bacteria. Their reaction center (RC) complex is supposed to form a homodimeric structure and is classified into the type 1 RC which contains Fe-S clusters as terminal electron acceptors. The electron transfer reactions have been studied so far with various biochemical and spectroscopic analyses. However, physical properties of cofactors involved in the reaction have not completely been clarified yet. Especially, it is still controversial whether functional quinone molecule is present within the RC.
Molecular genetic methods are thus expected to be the most suitable approach to resolve the issues. Since Chlorobium tepidum is amenable to a genetic manipulation and the information of its genome sequences is available, we have executed recombinant experiments to obtain mutated RC core proteins. We would like to discuss the best methodology to explore the electron transfer pathway and its mechanism within the RC.
