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Membrane-anchored cytochrome c as an electron carrier in photosynthesis and respiration: past, present and future of an unexpected discovery

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Abstract

In the mid 1980s, it was observed that photosynthesis could still occur in the absence of the diffusible electron carrier cytochrome c 2 in the purple non-sulfur facultative phototrophic bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus. This serendipic finding led to the discovery of a novel class of membrane-anchored electron carrier cytochromes and their associated electron transfer pathways. Studies of cytochrome c y of R. capsulatus (and its homologues in other species) have modified the previous dogma of electron transfer between photosynthetic and respiratory membrane protein complexes with a new paradigm, in which these proteins and their electron carriers can form `hard-wired' structural super-complexes. Here, we reminisce on the early days of this discovery, its impacts on our understanding of cellular energy transduction pathways and the physiological roles played by the electron carrier cytochromes c, and discuss the current knowledge and emerging future challenges of this field.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Pennsylvania, Department of Biology, Plant Science Institute, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-6018, USA

    Fevzi Daldal & Meenal Deshmukh

  2. ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Co., Annandale, NJ, 08801, USA

    Roger C. Prince

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  1. Fevzi Daldal
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  2. Meenal Deshmukh
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  3. Roger C. Prince
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Correspondence to Fevzi Daldal.

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Daldal, F., Deshmukh, M. & Prince, R.C. Membrane-anchored cytochrome c as an electron carrier in photosynthesis and respiration: past, present and future of an unexpected discovery. Photosynthesis Research 76, 127–134 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024999101226

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