Display options
Cite
Frenkel AW. Recollections. Photosynth Res. 1993;35(2):103-16doi: 10.1007/BF00014742.
Frenkel, A. W. (1993). Recollections. Photosynthesis research, 35(2), 103-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014742
Frenkel, A W. "Recollections." Photosynthesis research vol. 35,2 (1993): 103-16. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014742
Frenkel AW. Recollections. Photosynth Res. 1993 Feb;35(2):103-16. doi: 10.1007/BF00014742. PMID: 24318678.
Copy Download .nbib Format: NLM
Share it on

Photosynth Res. 1993 Feb;35(2):103-16. doi: 10.1007/BF00014742.

Recollections.

Photosynthesis research

A W Frenkel

Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Biology, University of Minnesota, 1445 Gortner Avenue, 55108-1095, St. Paul, MN, USA.

PMID: 24318678 DOI: 10.1007/BF00014742

Abstract

About 1939, Sam Ruben and Martin Kamen introduced me to the emergent application of artificial radio-isotopes in the study of photosynthesis. While my own experiments on CO2 fixation by isolated chloroplasts turned out to be negative, their laboratory provided me with an informative and exciting experience. Also, there were many stimulating contacts with Cornelis van Niel, Robert Emerson, Don DeVault and many other outstanding scientists. Efforts on my part to obtain a better understanding of intermediary metabolism, eventually led me to Fritz Lipmann's laboratory. There I was encouraged to study the metabolic activities of cell-free preparations of photosynthetic purple bacteria. Investigations of oxidative phosphorylation by isolated bacterial chromatophores in the dark raised questions about the possible effects of light on the phosphorylation activities of such preparations. Surprisingly, high rates of phosphorylation were observed in the light in the absence of molecular oxygen ('light-induced phosphorylation'). In this process, adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and inorganic phosphate (Pi) could be converted quantitatively into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). It was postulated that this process was 'cyclic' in nature, as only catalytic concentrations of added electron donors were required. Later, at Minnesota, it could be shown that similar chromatophore preparations, in the presence of suitable electron donors, could reduce nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide (NAD(+)) to NADH in the light. It was then demonstrated that the chromatophores of Rhodospirilum rubrum, as well as the smaller membrane components derived from them, must contain the active metabolic components for these photosynthetic reactions.These observations, and studies on the kinetics of the formation and decay of light-induced free radicals, appeared to demonstrate the usefulness of bacterial chromatophores and of their membrane fragments in the study of partial reactions of bacterial photosynthesis. Since that time, numerous investigators elsewhere have carried out remarkable research on the purification and eventual crystallization of distinct bacterial membrane components, capable of carrying out well characterized photochemical and electron transport reactions.

References

  1. Nature. 1954 Aug 28;174(4426):394-6 - PubMed
  2. Photosynth Res. 1991 Aug;29(2):55-77 - PubMed
  3. Plant Physiol. 1964 Mar;39(2):169-76 - PubMed
  4. Plant Physiol. 1954 Mar;29(2):177-82 - PubMed
  5. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1955 Apr;16(4):605-6 - PubMed
  6. Photosynth Res. 1991 Feb;27(2):73-82 - PubMed
  7. Science. 1948 Mar 5;107(2775):253-4 - PubMed
  8. J Cell Biol. 1965 May;25:261-78 - PubMed
  9. Science. 1939 Dec 15;90(2346):570-1 - PubMed
  10. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1968 Mar 12;30(5):471-5 - PubMed
  11. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1957 Jan 15;43(1):133-43 - PubMed
  12. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1951 Nov;34(1):189-95 - PubMed
  13. J Biol Chem. 1958 Jul;233(1):212-6 - PubMed
  14. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 1966 Aug;41(3):445-502 - PubMed
  15. Plant Physiol. 1962 Nov;37(6):814-20 - PubMed
  16. J Biol Chem. 1948 Oct;176(1):299-318 - PubMed
  17. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1967 Sep 9;135(4):614-23 - PubMed
  18. Nature. 1951 Jun 23;167(4260):1030 - PubMed
  19. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 1970 Nov;45(4):569-616 - PubMed
  20. J Bacteriol. 1949 Sep;58(3):313-6 - PubMed
  21. Photosynth Res. 1989 Sep;21(3):139-44 - PubMed
  22. Nature. 1947 Nov 15;160(4072):682 - PubMed
  23. Science. 1949 Jun 3;109(2840):560 - PubMed
  24. J Biol Chem. 1956 Oct;222(2):823-34 - PubMed
  25. Science. 1958 May 2;127(3305):1026-34 - PubMed
  26. FASEB J. 1989 Aug;3(10):2164-78 - PubMed
  27. Adv Enzymol Relat Subj Biochem. 1951;12:1-39 - PubMed
  28. Plant Physiol. 1974 Oct;54(4):420-6 - PubMed
  29. Annu Rev Biochem. 1986;55:1-34 - PubMed
  30. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1990 Jun 26;1017(3):251-72 - PubMed
  31. Biophys J. 1972 Jul;12(7):897-908 - PubMed
  32. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1942 Jan;28(1):8-15 - PubMed
  33. Arch Biochem. 1948 Dec;19(3):407-28 - PubMed
  34. Photosynth Res. 1989 Aug;21(2):61-79 - PubMed
  35. J Cell Biol. 1965 May;25:279-91 - PubMed
  36. Science. 1963 May 10;140(3567):584-90 - PubMed
  37. Biochemistry. 1969 Jan;8(1):167-73 - PubMed
  38. Science. 1948 Sep 17;108(2803):304 - PubMed
  39. Plant Physiol. 1941 Jul;16(3):654-5 - PubMed
  40. Microbiol Rev. 1985 Jun;49(2):140-57 - PubMed
  41. Nature. 1952 Feb 16;169(4294):282-3 - PubMed
  42. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1955 May;17(1):146-7 - PubMed
  43. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1963 Mar 15;49:337-45 - PubMed
  44. Annu Rev Biochem. 1985;54:1-41 - PubMed
  45. J Biol Chem. 1961 May;236:1534-43 - PubMed
  46. Photochem Photobiol. 1969 Oct;10(4):251-8 - PubMed
  47. J Biophys Biochem Cytol. 1959 Oct;6:285-90 - PubMed
  48. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1953 Jun;44(2):298-311 - PubMed
  49. Adv Enzymol Relat Areas Mol Biol. 1986;58:61-97 - PubMed
  50. Annu Rev Biophys Biophys Chem. 1991;20:247-66 - PubMed
  51. J Biophys Biochem Cytol. 1959 Oct;6:277-84 - PubMed
  52. Adv Enzymol Relat Areas Mol Biol. 1974;41(0):35-97 - PubMed
  53. Plant Physiol. 1959 May;34(3):333-7 - PubMed
  54. Biol Bull. 1950 Oct;99(2):157-62 - PubMed
  55. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1975 Sep 2;66(1):144-50 - PubMed
  56. J Gen Physiol. 1940 Sep 20;24(1):45-67 - PubMed
  57. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1968 Aug;126(2):383-7 - PubMed
  58. Nature. 1955 Dec 24;176(4495):1211-5 - PubMed
  59. J Nutr. 1988 May;118(5):535-40 - PubMed
  60. J Biol Chem. 1952 Oct;198(2):501-6 - PubMed
  61. Bacteriol Rev. 1961 Mar;25(1):1-17 - PubMed
  62. J Biol Chem. 1956 Nov;223(1):405-21 - PubMed
  63. Science. 1948 May 7;107(2784):476-80 - PubMed
  64. Plant Physiol. 1952 Apr;27(2):320-34 - PubMed
  65. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1952 Jul;38:219-30 - PubMed
  66. Photochem Photobiol. 1969 Mar;9(3):209-18 - PubMed
  67. J Biol Chem. 1952 Mar;195(1):75-93 - PubMed

Publication Types