Biosynthesis of porphyrins and related macrocycles. Part 11. Studies on biosynthesis of the phytyl chain of chlorophyll a by use of carbon-13

Abstract

A procedure is developed for the isolation on a small scale of pure phytol from cells of Euglena gracilis, and conditions are found for the separation of a crystalline phytyl carbamate from the corresponding derivative of geranylgeraniol Dark-grown cells of E. gracilis are shown to contain only negligible quantities of phytol, but on illumination they incorporate acetate efficiently into the phytyl chain of chlorophyll; the low dilution achieved allows experiments with [1 -¹³C] acetate. The eight sites of ¹³C enrichment in the resultant phytol are located by n.m.r. Presumably because of poor transport, the incorporation of mevalonate into phytol is very low.