The c-type cytochromes are defined by the occurrence of heme covalently linked to the polypeptide via thioether bonds between heme and the cysteine sulfhydryls in the CXXCH motif of apocytochrome. Maintenance of apocytochrome sulfhydryls in a reduced state is a prerequisite for covalent ligation of heme to the CXXCH motif. In bacteria, a thiol disulfide transporter and a thioredoxin are two components in a thio-reduction pathway involved in c-type cytochrome assembly. We have identified in photosynthetic eukaryotes nucleus-encoded homologs of a prokaryotic thiol disulfide transporter, CcdA, which all display an N-terminal extension with respect to their bacterial counterparts. The extension of Arabidopsis CCDA functions as a targeting sequence, suggesting a plastid site of action for CCDA in eukaryotes. Using PhoA and LacZ as topological reporters, we established that Arabidopsis CCDA is a polytopic protein with within-membrane strictly conserved cysteine residues. Insertional mutants in the Arabidopsis CCDA gene were identified, and loss-of-function alleles were shown to impair photosynthesis because of a defect in cytochrome b 6 f accumulation, which we attribute to a block in the maturation of holocytochrome f, whose heme binding domain resides in the thylakoid lumen. We postulate that plastid cytochrome c maturation requires CCDA, thioredoxin HCF164, and other molecules in a membrane-associated trans-thylakoid thiol-reducing pathway.The c-type cytochromes are a virtually ubiquitous yet rather structurally diverse group of hemoproteins that reside on the so-called p-side 1 of the energy-transducing membrane systems where they function typically as electron carriers (1, 2). The c-type cytochromes are defined by the occurrence of heme covalently attached to the polypeptide via two thioether linkages between the vinyl groups of heme and the cysteine sulfhydryls in the apocytochrome (1, 3). A CXXCH 2 sequence in the apocytochrome provides the thiols for formation of the thioether bonds, and the imidazole of the histidine residue serves as one of the axial ligands of the heme. Remarkably, three distinct assembly pathways, referred to as systems I, II, and III, have emerged through genetic analysis of c-type cytochrome maturation in bacteria, chloroplasts, and mitochondria (for review, see Refs. 1 and 4 -7), an unexpected finding for what appears on the surface to be a rather simple chemical reaction (i.e. the addition of apocytochrome cysteine thiols to the vinyls of heme). Each system can be distinguished on the basis of a sequence relationship of specific assembly factors. Yet, there is an underlying assumption that the three systems are united by common biochemical requirements for holocytochrome c biogenesis (for review, see Refs. 2, 4, and 8). For instance, the need for reducing conditions appears to be inherent to the chemistry of thioether bond formation (4). Both substrates, apocytochrome c sulfhydryls and heme, need to be maintained reduced prior to the ligation of heme as indicated from in vitro and in o...