Inhibition of Bacteriochlorophyll Biosynthesis by Gabaculin (3-Amino, 2,3-dihydrobenzoic Acid) and Presence of an Enzyme of the C 5 -Pathway of δ-Aminolevulinate Synthesis in Chloroflexus aurantiacus

Biosynthesis of bacteriochlorophyll c and a in the thermophilic phototrophic prokaryote. Chloroflexus aurantiacus Ok-70-fl, was strongly inhibited by the antibiotic gabaculin (3-amino 2,3- dihydrobenzoic acid), an inhibitor of the glutamate-C 5 -pathway of ö-aminolevulinate (ALA) synthesis. The key enzyme of the Shemin-pathway of ALA formation, ALA synthase (EC 2.3.1.37), was not detected in cell extracts of Chi. aurantiacus. However, the extracts catalyzed ALA formation from glutamate 1-semialdehyde, a reaction being highly sensitive to gabaculin.