Summary
Although Rhodospirillum rubrum, grown photoheterotrophically on malate, assimilates carbon dioxide less rapidly than it does when grown autotrophically, the difference is less marked than previously suggested.
The rate of photoassimilation of carbon dioxide varies during batch culture on malate, reaching a maximum at about mid-exponential phase. It also varies with density and growth rate in a turbidostat continuous-flow culture on malate and increases with decreasing growth rate in a chemostat continuous-flow culture growing with limiting malate concentrations.
The changing rates of carbon dioxide photoassimilation during photoheterotrophic growth under the various conditions are paralleled by changing activities of ribulose diphosphate carboxylase.
Under conditions of maximum carbon dioxide fixation the rate by photoheterotrophic cultures approaches that shown by the bacterium growing autotrophically and is assimilated eight to ten times more slowly than is malate in chemostat cultures.
The rate of carbon dioxide fixation also increases to that shown by autotrophic cells when photoheterotrophic cultures are deprived of malate, but without subjecting them to the conditions required for autotrophic growth.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, L., Fuller, R. C.: Photosynthesis in Rhodospirillum rubrum. I. Autotrophic carbon dioxide fixation. Plant Physiol 42, 487–490 (1967a).
Anderson, L., Fuller, R. C.: Photosynthesis in Rhodospirillum rubrum, II. Photoheterotrophic carbon dioxide fixation. Plant Physiol. 42, 491–496 (1967b).
Anderson, L., Fuller, R. C.: Photosynthesis in Rhodospirillum rubrum. III. Metabolic control of reductive pentose phosphate and tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes. Plant Physiol. 42, 497–502 (1967c).
Bassham, J. A. Benson, A. A., Kay, L. D., Harris, A. Z., Wilson, A. T., Calvin, M.: The path of carbon in photosynthesis XXI. The cyclic regeneration of carbon dioxide acceptor. J. Amer. chem. Soc. 76, 1760–1770 (1954).
Fuller, R. C., Smillie, R. M., Sisler, E. C., Kornberg, H. C.: Carbon metabolism in Chromatium. J. biol. Chem. 236, 2140–2149 (1961).
Glover, J., Kamen, M. D., Van Genderen, H.: Studies on the metabolism of photosynthetic bacteria. XII. Comparative light and dark metabolism of acetate and carbonate by Rhodospirillum rubrum. Arch. Biochem. 35, 343–408 (1952).
Herbert, D., Elsworth, R., Telling, R. C.: The continuous culture of bacteria; a theoretical and experimental study. J. gen. Microbiol. 14, 601–622 (1956).
Hoare, D. S.: The photoassimilation of acetate by Rhodospirillum rubrum. Biochem. J. 87, 284–301 (1963).
Lascelles, J.: The formation of ribulose-1,5-diphosphate carboxylase by growing cultures of Athiorhodaceae. J. gen. Microbiol. 23, 499–520 (1960).
Lowry, O. H., Rosebrough, M. J., Farr, A. L., Randall, R. J.: Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J. biol. Chem. 193, 265–275 (1951).
Ormerod, J. G., Ormerod, K. S., Gest, H.: Light-dependent utilization of organic compounds and photoproduction of molecular hydrogen by photosynthetic bacteria; relationships with nitrogen metabolism. Arch. Biochem. 94, 449–463 (1961).
Stanier, R. Y., Doudoroff, M., Kunisawa, R., Contopoulou, R.: The role of organic substrates in bacterial photosynthesis. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 45, 1246 to 1260 (1959).
Stoppani, A. O. M., Fuller, R. C., Calvin, M.: Carbon dioxide fixation by Rhodospirillum capsulatus. J. Bact. 69, 491–501 (1955).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Slater, J.H., Morris, I. Photosynthetic carbon dioxide assimilation by Rhodospirillum rubrum . Archiv. Mikrobiol. 88, 213–223 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421847
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421847