Skip to main content
Log in

The use of non-denaturing Deriphat-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to fractionate pigment-protein complexes of purple bacteria

  • Technical Communication
  • Published:
Photosynthesis Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The suitability of Deriphat-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis as a method for separating purple bacterial pigment-protein complexes has been tested. When appropriate non-denaturing detergents are used to solubilize chromatophores, this method provides a rapid, easy and microscale procedure for analyzing the composition of the bacterial photosynthetic apparatus with minimal disruption of individual pigment-proteins. Its usefulness is further illustrated by employing it to test for suitable detergents with which to solubilize purple bacterial chromatophores, and as an assay to study variation in the composition of the photosynthetic unit of bacterial cultures grown under different conditions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Broglie RM, Hunter CN, Delepelaire P, Niederman RA, Chua N-H and Clayton RK (1980) Isolation and characterization of the pigment-protein complexes of Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides by lithium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 77: 86–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Clayton RK (1963) Absorption spectra photosynthetic bacteria and their chlorophylls. In: Gest H, SanPietro A and Vernon LP (eds) Bacterial Phostosynthesis, pp. 495–500. Antioch Press, Yellow Springs, OH

    Google Scholar 

  • Cogdell RJ (1986) Light-harvesting complexes in the purple bacteria. Enc Plant Physiol, New Series 19: 252–259

    Google Scholar 

  • Cogdell RJ, Durant I, Valentine J, Lindsay JG and Schmidt K (1983) The isolation and partial characterization of the light-harvesting pigment-protein complexes of Rhodopseudomonas acidophilia. Biochim Biophys Acta 722: 427–435

    Google Scholar 

  • Cogdell RJ, Hawthornthwaite AM, Evans MB, Ferguson LA, Kerfeld C, Thornber JP, vanMourik F and vanGrondelle R (1990) Isolation and characterization of an unusual antenna complex from the marine purple sulfur bacterium Chromatium purpuratum BN 5500. Biochim Biophys Acta 1019: 239–244

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans MB, Hawthornthwaite AM and Cogdell RJ (1990) Isolation and characterization of the different B800–850 light-harvesting complexes from low- and high-light grown cells of Rhodopseudomonas palustris, strain 2.1.6. Biochim Biophys Acta 1019: 71–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Laemmli UK (1970) Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature 227: 680–685

    Google Scholar 

  • Markwell JP, Thornber JP and Boggs RT (1979) Higher plant chloroplasts: Evidence that all the chlorophyll exists as chlorophyll-protein complexes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 76: 1233–1235

    Google Scholar 

  • Peter GF and Thornber JP (1991) Electrophoretic procedures for fractionation of Photosystems I and II pigment-proteins of higher plants and for determination of their subunit composition. In: Rogers LJ (ed) Methods in Plant Biochemistry, Vol 5, pp 195–210. Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornber JP (1970) Photochemical reactions of purple bacteria as revealed by studies of three spectrally different caroteno-bacteriochlorophyll-protein complexes isolated from Chromatium vinosum. Biochemistry 9: 2688–2698

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornber JP, Morishige DT, Anandan S and Peter GF (1991) Chlorophyll-carotenoid proteins of higher plant thylakoids. In: Scheer H (ed) Chlorophylls, pp 549–585. CRC Press, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ferguson, L., Halloran, E., Hawthornthwaite, A.M. et al. The use of non-denaturing Deriphat-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to fractionate pigment-protein complexes of purple bacteria. Photosynth Res 30, 139–143 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00042012

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00042012

Key words

Navigation