Magnesium-chelatase is a three-component enzyme that catalyses the insertion of Mg2+ into protoporphyrin IX. This is the first unique step in the synthesis of bacteriochlorophyll. As a result, it is thought that Mg-chelatase has an important role in channeling intermediates into the (bacterio)chlorophyll branch in response to conditions suitable for photosynthetic growth:
- ATP + protoporphyrin IX + Mg2+ + H2O ADP + phosphate + Mg-protoporphyrin IX + 2 H+
The 4 substrates of this enzyme are ATP, protoporphyrin IX, Mg2+, and H2O, whereas its 4 products are ADP, phosphate, Mg-protoporphyrin IX, and H+.
This enzyme belongs to the family of ligases, specifically those forming nitrogen-D-metal bonds in coordination complexes. The systematic name of this enzyme class is Mg-protoporphyrin IX magnesium-lyase. Other names in common use include protoporphyrin IX magnesium-chelatase, protoporphyrin IX Mg-chelatase, magnesium-protoporphyrin IX chelatase, magnesium-protoporphyrin chelatase, magnesium-chelatase, Mg-chelatase, and Mg-protoporphyrin IX magnesio-lyase. This enzyme participates in porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism.