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The ferredoxin/thioredoxin system: from discovery to molecular structures and beyond

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Abstract

Experiments initiated in the early 1960s on fermentative bacteria led to the discovery of ferredoxin-dependent alpha-ketocarboxylation reactions that were later found to be key to a new cycle for the assimilation of carbon dioxide in photosynthetic bacteria (the reductive carboxylic acid or reverse citric cycle). The latter finding set the stage for the discovery of a regulatory system, the ferredoxin/thioredoxin system, functional in photosynthesis in chloroplasts and oxygen-evolving photosynthetic prokaryotes. The chloroplast research led to a description of the extraplastidic NADP/thioredoxin system that is now known to function in heterotrophic plant processes such as seed germination and self-incompatibility. Extensions of the fundamental research have begun to open doors to the broad application of thioredoxin in technology and medicine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Bob B. Buchanan

  2. Laboratoire de Biochimie Végétale, Université de Neuchâtel, CH-2007, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    P. Schürmann

  3. Fundacion Campomar, 1405, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Ricardo A. Wolosiuk

  4. Unité Mixte de Recherche Interactions Arbres Microorganismes, Biochimie et Biologie Moléculaire Végétale, Université de Nancy I BP 239, 54506, Vandoeuvre Cedex, France

    Jean-Pierre Jacquot

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  1. Bob B. Buchanan
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  2. P. Schürmann
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  3. Ricardo A. Wolosiuk
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  4. Jean-Pierre Jacquot
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Correspondence to Bob B. Buchanan.

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Buchanan, B.B., Schürmann, P., Wolosiuk, R.A. et al. The ferredoxin/thioredoxin system: from discovery to molecular structures and beyond. Photosynthesis Research 73, 215–222 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020407432008

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