Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate biosynthesis

Disch, A., Schwender, J., Muller, C., Lichtenthaler, H.K., and Rohmer, M., Distribution of the mevalonate and glyceraldehyde phosphate/pyruvate pathways for isoprenoid biosynthesis in unicellular algae and the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6714, Biochem.., 333, 381, 1998. 

Terpenes, biogenetically, arise from two simple five-carbon moieties. Isoprenyl-diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyldiphosphate (DMAPP) serve as universal precursors for the biosynthesis of terpenes. They are biosynthesised from three acetylcoenzyme A moieties through mevalonic acid (MVA) via the so-called mevalonate pathway. About 10 years ago, the existence of a second pathway leading to IPP and DMAPP was discovered involving l-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phos-phate (DXP) and 2C-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP). This so-called non-mevalonate or deoxyxylulose phosphate pathway starts off with the condensation of glyceraldehyde phosphate and pyruvate affording DXP. Through a series of reactions as shown in Fig. 4.1, IPP and DMAPP are formed, respectively [3,7, 42, 43]. 

Mechanism of step 5 in pyridoxal phosphate biosynthesis, the thiamin-dependent aldol reaction of D-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate with pyruvate to give i-deoxyxylulose 5phosphate. 

Maier, W., B. Schneider et al. (1998). Biosynthesis of sesquiterpenoid cyclohexenone derivatives in mycorrhizal barley roots proceeds via the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate/pyruvate pathway. Tetrahedron Lett. 39(7) 521-524. 

There are two distinct pathways for biosynthesis of the IPP and DMAPP the mevalonate (MVA) pathway and the DXP pathway (Figure 12.3). The MVA pathway functions primarily in eukaryotes, while the DXP pathway is typically present in prokaryotes and the plastids of plants [90,91]. The first reaction in the DXP pathway is the condensation of pyruvate and D-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (G3P) to form DXP, which is catalyzed by DXP synthase encoded by the gene dxs [92]. In the second step, DXP is reduced to 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) by DXP reductoisomerase, which is encoded by the gene dxr (ispC) in E. coli. An array of other enzymes encoded by is pi), ispE, ispF, ispG, and ispH act in subsequent sequential reactions, leading to the conversion of MEP to IPP and DMAPP, which are interconverted by the enzyme encoded by idi [93-97],... 

Rohmer, M., Seemann, M., Horbach, S. et al. (1996) Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate and pyruvate as precursors of isoprenic units in an alternative non-mevalonate pathway for terpenoid biosynthesis. Journal of the American... 

SCHWENDER, J., SEEMANN, M LICHTENTHALER, H.K., ROHMER, M., Biosynthesis of isoprenoids (carotenoids, sterols, prenyl side-chains of chlorophylls and plastoquinone) via a novel pyruvate/glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate non-mevalonate pathway in the green alga Scenedesmus obliquus, Biochem. J., 1996, 316, 73-80. 

In pepper as in many plants, there are two sources of isoprene monomers the mevalonic acid pathway and the plastidal pool from pymvate and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate [26], Pepper carotenoid biosynthesis uses the plastidal pathway for the isopentyl pyrophosphate monomers and the resident terpenoid synthases and transferases [27], Using the 5-carbon isoprene pool, the prenyl transferases sequentially... 

Both the aldol and reverse aldol reactions are encountered in carbohydrate metabolic pathways in biochemistry (see Chapter 15). In fact, one reversible transformation can be utilized in either carbohydrate biosynthesis or carbohydrate degradation, according to a cell s particular requirement. o-Fructose 1,6-diphosphate is produced during carbohydrate biosynthesis by an aldol reaction between dihydroxyacetone phosphate, which acts as the enolate anion nucleophile, and o-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, which acts as the carbonyl electrophile these two starting materials are also interconvertible through keto-enol tautomerism, as seen earlier (see Section 10.1). The biosynthetic reaction may be simplihed mechanistically as a standard mixed aldol reaction, where the nature of the substrates and their mode of coupling are dictated by the enzyme. The enzyme is actually called aldolase. 

In Box 10.4 we saw that an aldol-like reaction could be used to rationalize the biochemical conversion of dihydroxyacetone phosphate (nucleophile) and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (electrophile) into fructose 1,6-diphosphate by the enzyme aldolase during carbohydrate biosynthesis. The reverse reaction, used in the glycolytic pathway for carbohydrate metabolism, was formulated as a reverse aldol reaction. 

Figure 10-2 The interconversion of glucose, glycogen, and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate in the pathways of glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, and glycogen synthesis. Pathways of catabolism are indicated with black lines and those of biosynthesis with green lines.

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). 

Figure 22-2 The glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate pyruvate alternative pathway of isoprenoid biosynthesis. The intermediate 1-deoxyxylulose 5-phosphate may enter terpenes, vitamin B6, and thiamin. Isopentenyl diphosphate is shown as the final product, but the intermediate steps are uncertain. See Lange et al 2 ...

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