 Research suggests that the beginning of chlorophyll degradation is catalyzed by chlorophyll b reductase, which reduces chlorophyll b to 7‑hydroxymethyl chlorophyll a, which is then reduced to chlorophyll a.This is believed to destabilize the complex, at which point breakdown of the apoprotein occurs.An important enzyme in the breakdown of the apoprotein is FtsH6, which belongs to the FtsH family of proteases.