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Superoxide dismutase in photosynthetic organisms provides an evolutionary hypothesis

Nature volume 257, pages 670–672 (1975)Cite this article

Abstract

Two years ago it seemed that a unifying hypothesis accounting for the distribution of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in different organisms had been achieved. Thus the enzyme was present only in aerobes and aerotolerant anaerobes, but absent from obligate anaerobes1; eukaryotes contained primarily the cuprein (Cu–Zn) type of dismutase (cyanide-sensitive) whereas in prokaryotes the enzyme had either manganese or iron at the catalytic site (cyanide-insensitive); finally, the presence of a manganodismutase in the matrix space of mitochondria was interpreted3 in terms of a polyphyletic origin for eukaryotes with independent evolution of SOD in the prokaryotes (Mn-SOD) and protoeukaryotes (Cu–Zn SOD) before the postulated symbiotic event.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Sciences, King's College London, 68 Half Moon Lane, London, SE24 9JF, UK

    J. LUMSDEN & D. O. HALL

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  1. J. LUMSDEN
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  2. D. O. HALL
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LUMSDEN, J., HALL, D. Superoxide dismutase in photosynthetic organisms provides an evolutionary hypothesis. Nature 257, 670–672 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/257670a0

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