Influence of Light Intensity on Reductive Pentose Phosphate Cycle Activity during Photoheterotrophic Growth of Rhodospirillum rubrum.

Light intensity during growth affects the proportion of carbon dioxide fixed by the reductive pentose phosphate cycle relative to that incorporated via C(4) acids in acetate phototrophs of Rhodospirillum rubrum. With cells grown at high light intensity (9000 lux) the specific activities of ribulose-1, 5-diphosphate and propionyl CoA carboxylases were increased compared with cells grown at low light intensity (1500 lux), although pyruvate carboxylase activity was unaltered.Kinetic experiments with cells assimilating acetate at high light intensity showed that when the cells had been grown at high light intensity there was a rapid incorporation of (14)CO(2) into phosphate esters compared with cells grown at low light intensity and fixing (14)CO(2) while assimilating acetate at low light intensity. The percentage of the total radioactivity present in phosphate esters plotted against time gave a negative slope for high light conditions compared with a positive slope for low light conditions. High light-grown cells assimilating acetate at high light intensity showed the greatest combined rate of (14)CO(2) fixation via the reductive pentose phosphate cycle and C(4) acids, and this corresponded to the shortest mean generation time. When cells were grown at high light intensity and allowed to assimilate (14)CO(2) at high light intensity but in the stationary phase, the pattern of (14)CO(2) fixation resembled that for low light-grown cells assimilating acetate and fixing (14)CO(2) at low light intensity, showing that both acetate assimilation and high light intensity were necessary for the rapid incorporation of (14)CO(2) via the reductive pentose phosphate cycle.