Oxalacetate synthesizing enzyme

An individual has been found who is missing malic enzyme in his cytoplasm. He has instead an enzyme that converts the oxalacetate made from the citrate lyase reaction directly to pyruvate and C02. Discuss this patient in terms of the likely effect of these changes on his ability to synthesize fatty acids. 

Experiments with gene expression inhibitors have demonstrated that the secondary metabolic enzymes, which are present in chloroplasts are synthesized in the cytoplasm (A 2.1). Hence those enzymes must penetrate the plastid envelope, which shows maximum permeability at early stages of greening. During this period the precursors of secondary products, such as oxalacetate, succinate or mevalonate, and even the CoA-esters of cinnamic acid derivatives may also be transported across the plastid envelope. 

Bandurski and Greiner (27) have found in spinach leaves an enzyme which synthesizes oxalacetate from phosphoenolpyruvate and CO2. It differs from the enzymes described above in that it does not require ADP or IDP as phosphate acceptor (equation 39). Since... 

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