Five-carbon branched units, formation

The terpenes, carotenoids, steroids, and many other compounds arise in a direct way from the prenyl group of isopentenyl diphosphate (Fig. 22-1).16a Biosynthesis of this five-carbon branched unit from mevalonate has been discussed previously (Chapter 17, Fig. 17-19) and is briefly recapitulated in Fig. 22-1. Distinct isoenzymes of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase (HMG-CoA synthase) in the liver produce HMG-CoA destined for formation of ketone bodies (Eq. 17-5) or mevalonate.7 8 A similar cytosolic enzyme is active in plants which, collectively, make more than 30,000 different isoprenoid compounds.910 However, many of these are formed by an alternative pathway that does not utilize mevalonate but starts with a thiamin diphosphate-dependent condensation of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate with pyruvate (Figs. 22-1,22-2). 

Branched carbon skeletons are formed by standard reaction types but sometimes with addition of rearrangement steps. Compare the biosynthetic routes to three different branched five-carbon units (Fig. 17-19) The first is the use of a propionyl group to initiate formation of a branched-chain fatty acid. Propionyl-CoA is carboxylated to methylmalonyl-CoA, whose acyl group is transferred to the acyl carrier protein before condensation. Decarboxylation and reduction yields an acyl-CoA derivative with a methyl group in the 3-position. 

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