Phenylpropanoid biosynthesis phenylalanine ammonia-lyase

Results of Wulf et al (7) show that carrot roots obtained from a supermarket contain myristicin Imperator variety carrots contain an average of 15 parts per million (ppm). Recently harvested, unprocessed carrots only rarely contain myristicin (8). The presence of myristicin in supermarket carrots and its absence in recently harvested ones indicate that its increased concentration may have been induced by some elicitor following harvest. Solar radiation after harvest, or fluorescent lighting during display, may function as such an elicitor. Light is known to produce ethylene and is an activator of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, one of the regulatory enzymes responsible for phenylpropanoid biosynthesis in plants (9). 

Figure 1. Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) involvement in the biosynthesis of phenylpropanoid-derived secondary metabolites in plants and Ba-sidiomycetes.

Coumaroyl-CoA is produced from the amino acid phenylalanine by what has been termed the general phenylpropanoid pathway, through three enzymatic conversions catalyzed by phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H), and 4-coumarate CoA ligase (4CL). Malonyl-CoA is formed from acetyl-CoA by acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) (Figure 3.2). Acetyl-CoA may be produced in mitochondria, plastids, peroxisomes, and the cytosol by a variety of routes. It is the cytosolic acetyl-CoA that is used for flavonoid biosynthesis, and it is produced by the multiple subunit enzyme ATP-citrate lyase that converts citrate, ATP, and Co-A to acetyl-CoA, oxaloacetate, ADP, and inorganic phosphate. ... 

Achnine L, Blancaflor EB, Rasmussen S, Dixon RA. 2004. Colocalization of L-phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and cinnamate 4-hydroxylase for metabolic channeling in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. Plant Cell 16 3098-3109. 

L-Phenylalanine,which is derived via the shikimic acid pathway,is an important precursor for aromatic aroma components. This amino acid can be transformed into phe-nylpyruvate by transamination and by subsequent decarboxylation to 2-phenylacetyl-CoA in an analogous reaction as discussed for leucine and valine. 2-Phenylacetyl-CoA is converted into esters of a variety of alcohols or reduced to 2-phenylethanol and transformed into 2-phenyl-ethyl esters. The end products of phenylalanine catabolism are fumaric acid and acetoacetate which are further metabolized by the TCA-cycle. Phenylalanine ammonia lyase converts the amino acid into cinnamic acid, the key intermediate of phenylpropanoid metabolism. By a series of enzymes (cinnamate-4-hydroxylase, p-coumarate 3-hydroxylase, catechol O-methyltransferase and ferulate 5-hydroxylase) cinnamic acid is transformed into p-couma-ric-, caffeic-, ferulic-, 5-hydroxyferulic- and sinapic acids,which act as precursors for flavor components and are important intermediates in the biosynthesis of fla-vonoides, lignins, etc. Reduction of cinnamic acids to aldehydes and alcohols by cinnamoyl-CoA NADPH-oxido-reductase and cinnamoyl-alcohol-dehydrogenase form important flavor compounds such as cinnamic aldehyde, cin-namyl alcohol and esters. Further reduction of cinnamyl alcohols lead to propenyl- and allylphenols such as... 

Da Cunha A (1987) The estimation of L-phenylalanine ammonia-lyase shows phenylpropanoid biosynthesis to be regulated by L-phenylalanine supply and availability. Phytochemistry 26 2723-2727... 

Fig. 10. The pathway of aromatic biosynthesis in the cytosol and its point of interface with phenylpropanoid biosynthesis at the reaction catalyzed by phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL). Enzymes sensitive to inhibition by caffeic acid (CAF) are indicated by dark shading. Abbreviations as in Figure 9 additionally, GIN, cinnamic acid COU, coumaric acid.

Phenylpropanoid biosynthesis is initiated by the conversion of phenylalanine 2 to cinnamic acid 5 as catalyzed by phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL). Cinnamic add... 

The first step of phenylpropanoid biosynthesis is conversion of phenylalanine into cinnamic acid by cleavage of ammonium group by the enzyme phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL). Reduction of carboxylic acid from the cinnamic acid leads to cinnamaldehyde, which is then acylated with acetate from acetyl-CoA to form coniferyl alcohol [14]. Reductive cleavage of coniferyl alcohol by eugenol synthase yields eugenol [15]. 

Figure 1. Biosynthesis of phenylpropanoids (Q-C3) from phenylalanine and tyrosine. PAL, phenylalanine ammonia lyase TAL, tyrosine ammonia lyase.

It is reasonable to assume from the available evidence that the enzyme acts at a switching point in metabolism and diverts L-phenylalanine from the general pool of amino acids used for protein synthesis to the biosynthesis of phenylpropanoid compounds. Since initial steps are probable sites for overall pathway regulation, it is therefore not surprising that the factors which influence L-phenylalanine ammonia lyase activity have been subject to detailed scrutiny. Thus phytochrome control in dark grown seedlings. 

Biosynthesis of Plant Phenoiics. Phenolic compounds in plant foods are secondary metabolites which are derived from phenylalanine, and in some plants from tyrosine via enzymatic deamination assisted by ammonia lyase (Figure 1). Phenylpropanoids, the first products of deamination of phenylalanine and/or tyrosine consist of a phenyl ring (C ) and a 3 carbon side chain (C,). These Q-C, compounds may subsequently undergo hydroxylation in the phenyl ring and possibly subsequent methylation. This would lead to the formation of a large number of products which include cinnamic acid, p-coumaric acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid and sinapic acid (5). 

Resveratrol biosynthesis branches from the phenylpropanoid pathway. The resveratrol biosynthesis pathway consists of four enzymesrphenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), cinnamic acid 4-hydroxylase (C4H), 4-coumarate CoA ligase (4CL), and stilbene synthase (STS). The first two enzymes of the pathway, PAL and C4H, convert phenylalanine into /)-coumaric acid. The third enzyme, 4CL, attaches /)-coumaric acid to the pantetheine group of coenzyme-A (CoA) to produce 4-coumaroyl-CoA. The fourth enzyme, STS, catalyzes the condensation of resveratrol from one molecule of 4-coumaroyl-CoA and three molecules of malonyl-CoA, which originate from fatty acid biosynthesis. TAL is homologous to PAL and converts the amino acid tyrosine directly into / -coumaric acid. Methylated resveratrol derivatives of pinostilbene and pterostilbene are produced by resveratrol O-methyltransferase (ROMT) from resveratrol [135] (Figure 10.10). 

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