Erythrose 4-phosphate, shikimic acid pathway

Alkaloid biosynthesis needs the substrate. Substrates are derivatives of the secondary metabolism building blocks the acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA), shikimic acid, mevalonic acid and 1-deoxyxylulose 5-phosphate (Figure 21). The synthesis of alkaloids starts from the acetate, shikimate, mevalonate and deoxyxylulose pathways. The acetyl coenzyme A pathway (acetate pathway) is the source of some alkaloids and their precursors (e.g., piperidine alkaloids or anthraniUc acid as aromatized CoA ester (antraniloyl-CoA)). Shikimic acid is a product of the glycolytic and pentose phosphate pathways, a construction facilitated by parts of phosphoenolpyruvate and erythrose 4-phosphate (Figure 21). The shikimic acid pathway is the source of such alkaloids as quinazoline, quinoline and acridine. 

This key intermediate has given its name to Nature s general route to aromatic compounds and many other related six-membeied ring compounds the shikimic acid pathway. This pathway contains some of the most interesting reactions (from a chemist s point of view) in biology. It starts with an aldol reaction between phosphoenol pyruvate as the nucleophilic enol component and the C4 sugar erythrose 4-phosphate as the electrophilic aldehyde. 

The specific and proximate precursor of the mCyN unit in ansamycin polyketides is 3-amino-5-hydroxybenzoic acid 59 (AHBA) [94]. The biosynthesis of AHBA has recently been described by Floss and co-workers from the initial branch point of the shikimic acid pathway prior to 3-deoxy-D-flra/jzno-heptulo-sonic acid 7-phosphate (DAHP) [95]. The pathway shown in Scheme 25 was delineated by feedings of the proposed AHBA precursors, in labelled forms, to cell-free extracts of both the rifamycin B producer A. mediterranei S699 and the ansatrienin A producer S. collinus Tul892. In these experiments each of the compounds 61-64 was converted into AHBA with generally increasing efficiency. Most importantly the shikimate pathway compound DAHP cannot replace phosphoenolpyruvate 61 and erythrose 4-phosphate 60, or aminoDAHP 62 as the precursor of AHBA 59. 

Besides showing the unbranched pathway from erythrose-4-phosphate and phosphoenolpyruvate to shikimic acid. Figure 2L13 also shows the sequence of reactions from shikimic acid to chorismate, the first major branch point in the synthesis of the aromatic amino acids and histidine. The sixth reaction of the shikimic acid pathway is inhibited specifically by glyphosate (see here), which is the active ingredient in the broad spectrum herbicide known as Roundup. 

The unbranched pathways from erythrose-4-phosphate and phosphoenolpyruvate through shikimic acid to chorismate is shown in Figure 21.13. The sixth reaction of the shikimic acid pathway is... 

The shikimic acid (or shikimate) pathway can be divided into three parts condensation of erythrose-4-phosphate and phosphoenolpyruvate and the subsequent cyclization and production of shikimic acid (Fig. 7.1), alteration of shiki-mate-3-phosphate to chorismic acid (Fig. 7.1), and the conversion of chorismate into other products (Fig. 7.2). The shikimic acid pathway might more appropriately be called the chorismic acid pathway, as that compound is the key intermediate and branching point for most plant secondary compounds produced. 

The starting materials for the shikimic acid pathway, erythrose-4-phosphate (1) and phosphoenolpyruvate (2) are both involved in the primary metabolism of sugars and have key roles in the carbon assimilation cycle of photosynthesis, a process principally found in higher plants and algae (Bonner and Varner, 1976). 

Basically, the shikimic acid pathway involves initial condensation of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) from the glycolysis process with erythrose-4-phosphate derived from the oxidative pentose phosphate cycle. A series of reactions leads to shikimic acid, which is then phosphorylated. The phosphorylated shikimic acid combines with a second molecule of PEP to yield prephenic acid via chorismic acid intermediate. Prephenic acid is then decarboxylated to form phenyl-pyruvate or p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate. On transamination, these two compounds yield phenylalanine and tyrosine, respectively. 

The two starting materials of the shikimic acid pathway, phosphoenolpyruvate (a product of glycolysis) and erythrose 4-phosphate (a product of pentose... 

Phenolic compounds derived from a simple unit to a single benzene ring are created from the condensation of erythrose 4-phosphate, an intermediary product of the pentose phosphate cycle, with phosphoenol-pyruvic acid. This biosynthetic pathway, known as the shikimic acid pathway (Figure 10.11), leads to the production of benzoic... 

The shikimic acid pathway begins with phosphoenolpyruvate which is obtained from glycolysis, and D-erythrose-4-phosphate, which comes from the pentose phosphate cycle. The two are linked to form an intermediate with 7 C atoms which cyclizes to 5-dehydroquinic acid. The latter exists in equilibrium with quinic acid. The pathway proceeds via 5-dehydroshikimic acid and shikimic acid to 5-phosphoshikimic acid. An additional phosphoenolpyruvate unit is now attached to the last-mentioned compound. The product of this reaction is converted, in several steps, to chorismic acid. 

The shikimic acid pathway requires the C4 sugar erythrose-4-phosphate, and phosphoenol pyruvic acid (a derivative of pyruvic acid, locked in its enol form, see Figures 1.1 and 2.19) as starting materials. The route to aromatic compounds has more steps than those met earlier, and, not surprisingly, for a plant process, uses sugar derivatives as starting materials. A total of ten carbon atoms are required, four from erythrose, and six from two molecules of pyruvate one of these is later lost as CO2. The final product therefore is a C9 compound, so that such products are... 

Figure 8.1 The shikimic acid pathway from erythrose-4-phosphate and phosphoenol-pyruvic acid to phenylpyruvic acid...

This route, often called the shikimic acid pathway involves the condensation of phosphoenolpyruvate (2) and a 4-carbon sugar erythrose-4-phosphate (1) which is derived from the pentose phosphate pathway. The product of this reaction is converted to shikimic acid (3). Phosphorylation of shikimic acid to yield 5-phosphoshikimic acid (4) is followed by the addition of another molecule of phospho-enol pyruvate (2) which results in the synthesis of prephenic acid (5). Aromatization of the prephenic acid can give rise to phenylpyruvic acid (6) which upon transamination becomes phenylalanine. The carbon skeletons of the other aromatic amino acids, tryptophane and tyrosine are also synthesised via the shikimic acid pathway as is lignin and many of the aromatic secondary products described in Chapter 6. 

Deoxy-araWno-heptulosonic acid 7-phosphate (10) is a metabolic intermediate before shikimic acid in the biosynthetic pathway to aromatic amino-acids in bacteria and plants. While (10) is formed enzymically from erythrose 4-phosphate (11) and phosphoenol pyruvate, a one-step chemical synthesis from (11) and oxalacetate has now been published.36 The synthesis takes place at room temperature and neutral pH... 

The shikimate pathway begins with a coupling of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) and D-erythrose 4-phosphate to give the seven-carbon 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulo-sonic acid 7-phosphate (DAHP) through an aldol-type condensation. Elimination of phosphoric acid from DAHP, followed by an intramolecular aldol reaction, generates the first carbocyclic intermediate, 3-dehydroquinic acid. Shikimic acid (394) is... 

FIGURE 3.2 The common aromatic pathway to chorismate in Escherichia coli K12, where 5 is phosphoe-nolpyruvate, 6 is erythrose 4-phosphate, 7 is 3-deoxy-D-arabinoheptulose 7-phosphate, 8 is 3-dehydroquinic acid, 9 is 3-dehydroshikimic acid, 10 is shikimic acid, 11 is shikimic acid 3-phosphate, and 12 is 5-enolpyru-vylshikimic acid 3-phosphate. 

The shikimate biosynthetic pathway occurs in bacteria, plants, and fungi (including yeasts) and is a major entry into the biosynthesis of primary and secondary metabolites, for example aromatic amino acids, menaquinones, vitamins, and antibiotics [1], Starting from erythrose-4-phosphate (E4P) and phosphoenol-pyruvate... 

Bacteria, fungi, and plants share a common pathway for the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids with shikimic acid as a common intermediate and therefore named after it—the shikimate pathway. Availability of shikimic acid has proven to provide growth requirements to tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine triple auxotrophic bacterial strains. Chorismate is also the last common precursor in the aromatic amino acid biosynthetic pathway, but the pathway is not named after it, as it failed to provide growth requirements to the triple auxotrophs. The aromatic biosynthetic pathway starts with two molecules of phosphoenol pyruvate and one molecule of erythrose 4-phosphate and reach the common precursor, chorismate through shikimate. From chorismate, the pathway branches to form phenylalanine and tyrosine in one and tryptophan in another. Tryptophan biosynthesis proceeds from chorismate in five steps in all organisms. Phenylalanine and tyrosine can be produced by either or both of the two biosynthetic routes. So phenylalanine can be synthesized from arogenate or phenylpyruvate whereas tyrosine can be synthesized from arogenate or 4-hydroxy phenylpyruvate. 

The biosynthetic pathway through shikimic acid (5.7) to aromatic amino acids, outlined in Scheme 5.1 (acids are shown as anions) is called the shikimic acid or shikimate pathway [1, 2, 5]. It has its origins in carbohydrate metabolism and shows several interesting features, much of it known from detailed examination of the steps involved. The first step is a stereospecific aldol-type condensation between phosphoenolpyruvate (5.7) and D-erythrose-4-phosphate (5.2) to give 3-deoxy-D-arabinoheptulosonic acid 7-phosphate (5.5 DAHP), in which addition occurs to the jz-face of the double bond in (5.7) and the r -face of the carbonyl group in (5.2) and which has been rationalized in terms of the mechanism shown in Scheme 5.2... 

The six-carbon chain of ManNAc 6-P can be extended by three carbon atoms using an aldol-type condensation with a three-carbon fragment from PEP (Eq. 20-7, step c) to give N-acetylneuraminic acid (sialic acid).48 Tire nine-carbon chain of this molecule can cyclize to form a pair of anomers with 6-membered rings as shown in Eq. 20-7. In a similar manner, arabi-nose 5-P is converted to the 8-carbon 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid (KDO) (Fig. 4-15), a component of the lipopolysaccharide of gram-negative bacteria (Fig. 8-30), and D-Erythrose 4-P is converted to 3-deoxy-D-arafrmo-heptulosonate 7-P, the first metabolite in the shikimate pathway of aromatic synthesis (Fig. 25-1).48a The arabinose-P used for KDO synthesis is formed by isomerization of D-ribulose 5-P from the pentose phosphate pathway, and erythrose 4-P arises from the same pathway. 

Aromatic compounds arise in several ways. The major mute utilized by autotrophic organisms for synthesis of the aromatic amino acids, quinones, and tocopherols is the shikimate pathway. As outlined here, it starts with the glycolysis intermediate phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) and erythrose 4-phosphate, a metabolite from the pentose phosphate pathway. Phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan are not only used for protein synthesis but are converted into a broad range of hormones, chromophores, alkaloids, and structural materials. In plants phenylalanine is deaminated to cinnamate which yields hundreds of secondary products. In another pathway ribose 5-phosphate is converted to pyrimidine and purine nucleotides and also to flavins, folates, molybdopterin, and many other pterin derivatives. 

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