Pheophytin Pheophorbide Hydrolase (Pheophytinase) Is Involved in Chlorophyll Breakdown during Leaf Senescence in Arabidopsis   

During leaf senescence, chlorophyll is removed from thylakoid membranes and converted in a multistep pathway to colorless breakdown products that are stored in vacuoles. Dephytylation, an early step of this pathway, increases water solubility of the breakdown products. It is widely accepted that chlorophyll is converted into pheophorbide via chlorophyllide. However, chlorophyllase, which converts chlorophyll to chlorophyllide, was found not to be essential for dephytylation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Here, we identify pheophytinase (PPH), a chloroplast-located and senescence-induced hydrolase widely distributed in algae and land plants. In vitro, Arabidopsis PPH specifically dephytylates the Mg-free chlorophyll…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: 117940
• SN
  Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung

  Awards: 117940, 3100A0
• TI
  Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
• UD
  Université de Genève