We discovered natural photosynthesis using Zn-containing bacteriochlorophyll α in an acidophilic bacterium Acidiphilium rubrum. Chemical analysis of the cell extracts gave a 13 : 2 :1 molar ratio of Zn-bacteriochlorophyll α : Mg-bacteriochlorophyll α : bacteriopheophytin α. Most of the pigments are associated with fully active reaction center and light-harvesting complexes analogous to those in purple photosynthetic bacteria. The finding indicates an unexpectedly wide variability of photosynthesis.
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Wakao et al. (1996) studied this question.
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