High-potential iron-sulfur protein (HiPIP) is the major electron donor to the reaction center complex in photosynthetically growing cells of the purple bacterium Rubrivivax gelatinosus

A gene encoding the high-potential iron-sulfur protein (HiPIP) was cloned from the purple photosynthetic bacterium Rubrivivax gelatinosus. An insertional disruption of this gene by a kanamycin resistance cartridge resulted in a significant decrease in the growth rate under photosynthetic growth conditions. Flash-induced kinetic measurements showed that the rate of reduction of the photooxidized reaction center is greatly diminished in the mutant depleted in the HiPIP. On the other hand, mutants depleted in the low- and high-potential cytochromes c(8), the two other soluble electron carriers, which have been shown to donate an electron to the reaction center in Rvi. gelatinosus, showed growth rates similar to those of the wild type under both photosynthetic and respiratory growth conditions. It was concluded that HiPIP is the major physiological electron donor to the reaction center in Rvi. gelatinosus cells grown under photosynthetic conditions.