DNA sequencing and complementation/deletion analysis of the bchA-puf operon region of Rhodobacter sphaeroides: in vivo mapping of the oxygen-regulated puf promoter.

Within the photosynthetic gene cluster of Rhodobacter sphaeroides the genes encoding light-harvesting LHI and reaction-centre complexes are transcriptionally linked in the order pufBALMX. The region stretching 1.6 kb upstream of pufB has been examined by DNA sequencing and by complementation/deletion analysis. These studies demonstrate that three open reading frames are located upstream of pufB. One open reading frame, designated bchA, terminates just inside pufQ, which is located proximal to pufB. BchA contains a 37 bp region that functions as the oxygen-regulated promoter for pufQ, and probably for the puf operon as a whole. We also demonstrate that the protein encoded by pufQ appears to play a role in bacteriochlorophyll biosynthesis.