MEP pathway

IPP and its DMAPP structural isomer are produced from glycolytic products by the methyl erythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway (Figure 5.3.1, Pathway 1). These isoprene units are condensed in a stepwise fashion to form the precursor to all carotenoids, geranylgeranyl di-phosphate (GGPP). GGPP is not solely metabolized to make carotenoids, but is a precursor for many other primary and secondary metab-... 

FIGURE 5.3.1 Parts of the isoprenoid pathways to carotenoids. 1 = MEP pathway. 2 = GGPP synthesis. 3 = Carotenoid biosynthetic pathway. 4 = Carotenoid degradative pathways. Enzyme abbreviations and enzyme activities are defined in Table 5.3.1. 

In plant plastids, GGPP is formed from products of glycolysis and is eight enzymatic steps away from central glucose metabolism. The MEP pathway (reviewed in recent literature - ) operates in plastids in plants and is a preferred source (non-mevalonate) of phosphate-activated prenyl units (IPPs) for plastid iso-prenoid accumulation, such as the phytol tail of chlorophyll, the backbones of carotenoids, and the cores of monoterpenes such as menthol, hnalool, and iridoids, diterpenes such as taxadiene, and the side chains of bioactive prenylated terpenophe-nolics such as humulone, lupulone, and xanthohumol. The mevalonic pathway to IPP that operates in the cytoplasm is the source of the carbon chains in isoprenes such as the polyisoprene, rubber, and the sesquiterpenes such as caryophyllene. 

At the beginning of the MEP pathway, the glycolytic products, pyruvate and D-glyceraldehyde (GAP), are condensed in a transketolase reaction to deoxy-xylulose phosphate (DXP) by the deoxy-xylulose phosphate synthase (DXS) enzyme. DXP is the precursor for other pathways leading to pyridoxal and thiamine. 

The CPPase substrate DMAPP (15) is formed from isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) (14) via the IPP isomerase reaction. It had been assumed that IPP was generated only via mevalonic acid (12) (Fig. 2), but Rohmer discovered another route, 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate (13) (MEP) pathway (Fig. 2) [22, 23]. A key step in the MEP pathway is the reaction catalyzed by 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase (DXS), which combines hydroxyethyl thiamine pyrophosphate (hydroxyethyl TPP) generated from pyruvic acid (17) and TPP with glyceral-dehyde 3-phosphate (18) to yield 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate (19) containing five carbons. The mevalonate pathway operates in the cytosol of plants and animals, whereas the MEP pathway is present in the plastid of plants or in eubacteria [24-27]. 

Phillips MA, Leon P, Boronat A et al (2008) The plastidial MEP pathway unified nomenclature and resources. Trends Plant Sci 13 619-623... 

Wanke M, Skorupinska-Tudek K, Swiezewska E (2001) Isoprenoid biosynthesis via 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate/2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate (DOXP/MEP) pathway. Act... 

One of the more exciting and recent advances in the field of plant biochemistry has been the discovery of the mevalonate-independent pathway for the biosynthesis of isoprenoids (Fig. 10.4). This new pathway, referred to a the methyl-erythritol-phosphate or MEP pathway for the first intermediate committed solely to the biosynthesis of isoprenoids, was first discovered in prokaryotes capable of accumulating hopenes, the equivalent of eukaryotic sterols. 6,17 The MEP pathway has since been confirmed in plants and, not surprisingly, has been localized to chloroplasts.18 Operation of the MEP pathway is intimately related to the reactions of CO2 fixation and photosynthesis, as evidenced by the two immediate precursors pyruvate and phosphoglyceraldehyde for this pathway. Two important features of this pathway are that mevalonate is not an intermediate in the plastidic synthesis of isopentenyl (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate, (DMAPP), and this pathway... 

DMAPP, a prenyl-donor substrate in cytokinin biosynthesis, is an intermediate of both the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) and mevalonate (MVA) pathways, whereas HMBDP, another substrate of Agrobacterium IPTs, is synthesized via only the MEP pathway. In general, the MEP pathway is found in bacteria and plastids, and the MVA pathway is found in the cytosol of eukaryotes.413-415... 

Figure 27 Four possible pathways for ABA biosynthesis. Open and closed circles show the 13C label from [1-13C]-d-glucose in the mevaloic acid pathway and the MEP pathway, respectively. DAP, dihydroxyacetone phosphate DXP, 1-deoxy-xylulose-5-phosphate FDP, farnesyl diphosphate GAP, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate GGDP, geranylgeranyl diphosphate HMG-CoA, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA IDP, isopentenyl diphosphate MEP, 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate.

At present, there is no doubt about the biosynthesis of ABA by the carotenoid pathway via the MEP pathway in plants. If ABA is biosynthesized by the direct pathway, the first cyclized intermediate will be ionylide-neethanol, having a hydroxyl group at C-l derived from farnesol however, ionylideneethanol has not been found in plants, so the direct pathway is not involved in ABA biosynthesis. The mevalonic acid pathway may also be excluded because almost no 13C label was incorporated into the carbons, which would be labeled in the mevalonic acid pathway in a feeding experiment with [l-13C]-D-glucose.640... 

Buriat, V., Oudin, A., Courtois, M., Rideau, M. and St. Pierre, B. (2004) Co-expression of three MEP pathway genes and geraniol-lO-hydroxylase in internal phloem parenchyma of Catharanthus roseus implicates multicellular location of intermediates during the biosynthesis of monoterpene indole alkaloids and isoprenoid-derived primary metabolites. Plant., 38,131 1. 

The universal precursors to terpenoids, the C5-compounds dimethylallyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP) and isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP), originate from two pathways in plants (Fig. 1). The mevalonate (MEV) pathway is well described in many eukaryotic organisms. This pathway is present in the cy-tosol/endoplasmic reticulum of plants. More recently, another pathway has been described, the 2C-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) pathway, which is found in the plastids of plants (19). The localization of the different pathways and the plastid-directing transit peptides found in hemi-TPS, mono-TPS, and di-TPS, but not in sesqui-TPS, result in the production of terpenoids from at least two different precursors pools. 

Taxol is biosynthesized in 19 steps from GGPP that originates from precursors of the MEP pathway (Fig. 5). The biosynthesis of Taxol begins with the formation of the tricyclic diterpene skeleton of taxa-4(5),ll(12)-diene (17, 39). All genes for the enzymes in this early pathway have been identified in Taxus cuspidata and a taxa-4(5),ll(12)-diene synthase has been identified in several Taxus species. The mechanism of this di-TPS has been explored in detail (39). Taxa-4(5),ll(12)-diene is then hydroxylated by several cytochrome P450 taxoid oxygenases to yield a putative intermediate decorated with seven alcohol... 

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