The 18-kD protein that binds to the chloroplast DNA replicative origin is an iron-sulfur protein related to a subunit of NADH dehydrogenase.

From a high-salt extract of the purified thylakoid membrane, an 18-kD protein was detected. This protein was translated by the chloroplast ribosomes and could form a stable DNA-protein complex with a cloned chloroplast DNA replicative origin [Nie, Z.Q., Chang, D.Y., and Wu, M. (1987) Mol. Gen. Genet. 209, 265-269]. In this paper, the 18-kD protein is linked to frxB, a chloroplast-encoded, ferredoxin-type, iron-sulfur protein, by N-terminal microsequencing of the purified protein and computer analysis. The identification is further supported empirically by the fact that the electron paramagnetic resonance spectra of the protein indicate the presence of iron-sulfur clusters. A polyclonal antibody raised against a synthetic pentadecameric peptide with amino acid sequence corresponds to the highly conserved region of the frxB protein and reacts strongly and specifically with the 18-kD protein band in protein gel blot analyses. The 18-kD iron-sulfur protein is found to be related to a subunit of the respiratory chain NADH dehydrogenase by its cross-reaction with a polyclonal antibody raised against highly purified NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase, a key enzyme of the respiratory chain. These data are consistent with chlororespiration, and, thus, possible implication of chlororespiration in regulating the initiation of chloroplast DNA replication is discussed.