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Porphyrins, Chlorophyll, and Photosynthesis

  • Chapter
Photosynthesis I

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology ((PLANT,volume 5))

Abstract

The porphyrins have been selected by the fine comb of evolution as the functional pigment of biology. As heme they are part of the electron transport system of almost all cells. As chlorophyll they are at the heart of photosynthesis. The role of porphyrins in electron transport appears to be as handmaidens to the redox properties of iron ions, but their role in photosynthesis is far more central and unique. They are involved in the critical energy conversion step of photosynthesis. As far as is known, only two pigments are used for this crucial reaction: chlorophyll a and bacteriochlorophyll a. So the question arises: why these particular chemical structures?

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Authors
  1. D. Mauzerall
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abteilung für Biologie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Postfach 1021 48, 4630, Bochum-Querenburg, Germany

    A. Trebst

  2. Department of Biochemistry, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

    M. Avron

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© 1977 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg

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Mauzerall, D. (1977). Porphyrins, Chlorophyll, and Photosynthesis. In: Trebst, A., Avron, M. (eds) Photosynthesis I. Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology, vol 5. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-66505-9_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-66505-9_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-66507-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-66505-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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