Isochorismic acid synthesis

In contrast to E. coli, Flavobacterium [112] is unable to grow anaerobically and does not seem to produce a catechol siderophore from isochorismic acid. Regulation of isochorismic acid synthesis is therefore likely to be completely different. The relative high K , value of isochorismate synthase for chorismic acid, compared to E. coli, may prevent drainage of substrates into isochorismic acid-utilizing reactions. This may indicate that isochorismate synthesis is controlled not only at the level of transcription, as is the case in E. coli, but also at enzyme level [112]. 

The quinone ring is derived from isochorismic acid, formed by isomerization of chorismic acid, an intermediate in the shikirnic acid pathway for synthesis of the aromatic amino acids. The first intermediate unique to menaquinone formation is o-succinyl benzoate, which is formed by a thiamin pyrophosphate-dependent condensation between 2-oxoglutarate and chorismic acid. The reaction catalyzed by o-succinylbenzoate synthetase is a complex one, involving initially the formation of the succinic semialdehyde-thiamin diphosphate complex by decarboxylation of 2-oxoglutarate, then addition of the succinyl moiety to isochorismate, followed by removal of the pyruvoyl side chain and the hydroxyl group of isochorismate. 

Fig. 7. Total synthesis of isochorismic acid. Reprinted from Reference 18 with permission of the American Chemical Society.

The truncated PHYLLO menFS module product showed homology to the N-terminal part of ICS, and hence it was important to establish whether it is functional. Hence, plants containing single and double knockouts of the genes ICSl and ICS2) were tested. It was found that only the double knockout plants showed the expected pha phenotype, demonstrating that ICSl and ICSl overlap in their function for the synthesis of isochorismate required for K. This experiment in addition established that the product of the menFS module is unable to complement K deficiency. The PHYLLO product was found to contain 1715 deduced amino acid residues with the four Men modules and a predicted transit peptide that directs the protein to the chloroplasts. 

The synthesis of compound (44) as a potential transition-state analogue inhibitor of isochorismate synthase (IS) has been reported/ Compounds (45) and (46) have been synthesized from the known 6-fluoroshikimic acids (J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 1989, 1386) by treatment first with shikimate kinase then 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate (EPSP) synthase and shown to be competitive inhibitors of chorismate synthase/ ... 

Salicylic Acid.—It has recently been demonstrated (see last year s Report ) that whereas 6-methylsalicylic acid in both micro-organisms and higher plants is acetate-derived, salicylic add itself is formed in both groups of organisms by the shikimic add pathway. Further confirmation of this has come from Marshall and Ratledge, who have studied the enzymology of biosynthesis of salicylic acid in Mycobacterium smegmatis. These authors isolated the enzyme salicylate synthetase, which catalyses the last step (see Scheme 1) in synthesis of salicylic acid (1) from isochorismic add (2), formed in turn from chorismic (3) and shikimic adds (4). The enzyme has no cofactor requirements and converts (2) directly into (1). No evidence could be obtained for the presence in bacterial cultures of the possible intermediate 2,3-dihydroxy-2,3-dihydrobenzoic add. 

---