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The Prokaryotes pp 593–601Cite as

The Phototrophic Beta-Proteobacteria

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Introduction

The phototrophic purple β-Proteobacteria are purple nonsulfur bacteria able to perform anoxygenic photosynthesis with bacteriochlorophylls and carotenoids as photosynthetic pigments. Though genetic relationships and chemotaxonomic properties clearly distinguish these bacteria from the phototrophic α-Proteobacteria, both groups share a number of common physiological properties. Owing to their photosynthetic pigments, cell suspensions appear in various colors and have characteristic absorption spectra. Photosynthetic pigments are located in the cytoplasmic membrane and in internal membrane systems (small tubular invaginations of the cytoplasmic membrane) and are bacteriochlorophyll a and various types of carotenoids. In most species, the formation of pigments and of the internal membrane systems is repressed under oxic conditions but becomes derepressed at low oxygen tensions.

Phototrophic β-Proteobacteria have high metabolic flexibility. The preferred mode of growth is...

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Authors
  1. Johannes F. Imhoff
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Minnesota, Box 196, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0312, USA

    Martin Dworkin Professor Dr. (Editor-in-Chief) (Editor-in-Chief)

  2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University Medical School, 299 Campus Drive, Fairchild, D039, Stanford, CA, 94305-5124, USA

    Stanley Falkow

  3. Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, 69978, Israel

    Eugene Rosenberg

  4. Department of Microbiology, Technical University Munich, 80290, Munich, Germany

    Karl-Heinz Schleifer

  5. DSMZ- German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH, Mascheroder Weg 1b, 38124, Braunschweig, Germany

    Erko Stackebrandt

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Imhoff, J.F. (2006). The Phototrophic Beta-Proteobacteria. In: Dworkin, M., Falkow, S., Rosenberg, E., Schleifer, KH., Stackebrandt, E. (eds) The Prokaryotes. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30745-1_25

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