A single mutation in the M-subunit of Rhodospirillum rubrum confers herbicide resistance.

Cells of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum were rendered resistant against the inhibitor 2-(1-phenyl)ethylamino-3-propionylamino-4-cyano-thiazole (PPCTH). Electron transport in reaction centers prepared from one of the mutants (M6) was neither inhibited by PPCTH and other NH-thiazoles nor terbutryn. These inhibitors are known to bind at the Q(B) site of the L-subunit. Compared to the wild type, chromatophores from M6 exhibited strongly altered Q(B)- Fe2+ and Q(A)- Fe2+ EPR signals. Inhibitor resistance is due to a mutation in the bacterial reaction center M-subunit, where Glu234 is exchanged against Lys. This is the first example of an inhibitor resistance in the Q(B) site caused by a mutation in the M-subunit.