Magnesium-protoporphyrin IX monomethyl ester (oxidative) cyclase (EC1.14.13.81), is an enzyme with systematic namemagnesium-protoporphyrin-IX 13-monomethyl ester, ferredoxin:oxygen oxidoreductase (hydroxylating).[1] In plants this enzyme catalyses the following overall chemical reaction
Recent evidence[2] shows that the necessary electrons which cycle the enzyme from oxidised to reduced form come from ferredoxin. In green tissue, ferredoxin can receive these electrons directly from photosystem I so that NADPH need not be involved. However, in the dark, ferredoxin can also be reduced via Ferredoxin—NADP(+) reductase, allowing the reaction to proceed in that case. It is therefore more accurate to show the individual steps as follows:
(1a) magnesium-protoporphyrin IX 13-monomethyl ester + 2 reduced ferredoxin + O2 131-hydroxy-magnesium-protoporphyrin IX 13-monomethyl ester + H2O
(1b) 131-hydroxy-magnesium-protoporphyrin IX 13-monomethyl ester + 2 reduced ferredoxin + O2 131-oxo-magnesium-protoporphyrin IX 13-monomethyl ester + 2 H2O
This enzyme requires Fe(II) for activity. In barley the cyclase protein is named XanL and is encoded by the Xantha-l gene. An associated protein, Ycf54, seems to be required for proper maturation of the XanL enzyme,[2] which is part of the biosynthetic pathway to chlorophylls.[3][4][5]
In anaerobic organisms such as Rhodobacter sphaeroides the same overall transformation occurs but the oxygen incorporated into magnesium-protoporphyrin IX 13-monomethyl ester comes from water in the reaction EC1.21.98.3.[6]