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Title: Porphyrins: one ring in the colors of life

Author
item Dayan, Franck
item DAYAN, EMILIE - University Of Mississippi

Submitted to: American Scientist
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/28/2011
Publication Date: 5/3/2011
Citation: Dayan, F.E., Dayan, E.A. 2011. Porphyrins: one ring in the colors of life. American Scientist. 99:236-243.

Interpretive Summary: The porphyrin pathway is the source of the "rings of life" and its significance is interwoven in the fabric of the biological world. Protopophyrinogen oxidase is the last enzyme in the synthesis of the master ring (protoporphyrin) whose fundamental role may have left its mark on King George's legacy and the founding of the United States, the myth of Dracula and the development of herbicides. This review highlights the pivotal function of protoporhyrinogen oxidase in the synthesis of hemes and chlorophylls, and how disruption of its catalytic action has universal and unexpectedly far-reaching consequences.

Technical Abstract: The porphyrin pathway is the source of the "rings of life" and its significance is interwoven in the fabric of the biological world. Protoporphyrinogen oxidase is the last enzyme in the synthesis of the master ring (protoporhyrin) whose fundamental role may have left its mark on King George's legacy and the founding of the United States, the myth of Dracula and the development of herbicides. This review highlights the pivotal funciton of protoporphyrinogen oxidase in the synthesis of hemes and chlorphylls, and how disruption of its catalytic action has universal and unexpectedly far-reaching consequences.