The ‘light’ (L) and the ‘medium’ (M) subunits of the photosynthetic reaction centre from Rhodopseudomonas viridis were isolated and their amino‐terminal sequences, as well as the sequences of several chymotryptic peptides, determined. Rps. viridis DNA was cloned in the Escherichia coli plasmid pBR322. Mixed oligonucleotide probes derived from the amino acid sequences were synthesised and utilised to isolate one clone which contained the genes for the L and M subunits of the reaction centre as well as the α and β subunits of the light‐harvesting complex and part of the gene for the reaction centre cytochrome. The nucleotide sequences of the L and M subunit genes and the derived amino acid sequences are presented. The L subunit consists of 273 amino acids and has a mol. wt of 30 571. The M subunit consists of 323 amino acids and has a mol. wt of 35 902. The primary structure is discussed in the light of the recently published secondary and tertiary structure which has shown that both subunits contain five membrane‐spanning helices.

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The complete nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding the cytochrome subunit of the photosynthetic reaction centre from the purple bacterium Rhodopseudomonas viridis, and the derived amino acid sequence are presented. The nucleotide sequence of the gene reveals the existence of a typical bacterial signal peptide of 20 amino acid residues which is not found in the mature cytochrome subunit. The gene encoding the cytochrome subunit is preceded by the gene encoding the M subunit. Both genes overlap by 1 bp. The mature cytochrome subunit consists of 336 amino acid residues; 73% of its amino acid sequence was confirmed by protein sequencing work. The mol. wt of the cytochrome subunit including the covalently bound fatty acids and the bound heme groups is 40 500. The internal sequence homology is low, despite the symmetric structure of the cytochrome subunit previously shown by X‐ray crystallographic analysis of the intact photosynthetic reaction centre. Sequence homologies to other cytochromes were not found.

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