From 2007.igem.org

Magnesium-protoporphyrin chelatase lies at the branch point of the heme and (bacterio) chlorophyll biosynthetic pathways. In our project, the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides and Cyanobacteria Synechocystis have been used as model systems for our study.

The bchH and the bchI and bchD genes from R. sphaeroides were expressed in Escherichia coli.It has been discovered that when cell-free extracts from strains expressing BchH, BchI, and BchD were combined, the mixture was able to catalyze the insertion of Mg into protoporphyrin IX.

My tasks are to isolate bchD and bchI from "Rhodobacter sphaeroides", overexpress and identify proteins encoded by these genes. In addition, I would also isolate their homologue genes from Cyanobacteria Synechocystis: chlD and chlI and compare the protein productions and activities of the two model systems.