Reaction Center Associated Cytochromes

Abstract

The X-ray structure of the Rhodopseudomonas viridis reaction center has for the first time provided a detailed picture of a reaction center associated cytochrome. Guided by the domain structure visible in this atomic model of the protein, the amino acid sequence of the Rp. viridis subunit can similarly be divided up into the respective structurally important segments. A comparison of presently available amino acid sequences for reaction center associated tetraheme subunits in the light of this segmented structure strongly suggests that all these proteins have a common global structure.