Prenyl side chains

The third pathway involved in the quinones biosynthesis is the isoprenoid route. This pathway is primarily important for the formation of prenyl side chains of prenylquinones (ubiquinone, menaquinone, plastoquinones, etc.). The side chains of ubiquinones and prenylated naphthoquinones derive from polyprenyl diphosphates. 

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. 

Zhao, P. et al., Characterization of leachianone G 2"-dimethylallyltransferase, a novel prenyl side-chain elongation enzyme for the formation of the lavandulyl group of sophoraflavanone G in Sophora flavescens Ait. cell suspension cultures. Plant Physiol, 133, 1306, 2003. 

Natural cytokinins are. / /-substituted adenine derivatives. The N6 side chain is either isoprenoid or aromatic (Figure 10), with the former occurring in greater abundance than the latter. The prenyl side chains vary in the presence or absence of a hydroxyl group and the stereoisomeric position. Common active isoprenoid cytokinins are isopentenyladenine (iP /V6-(A2-isopentenyl)adenine), trans-zeatin (tZ / / -(4-hydro.xyisopentenyl)adenine (A)-2-methyl-4-(1 //-purin-6-ylamino)but-2-en-l -ol), ax-zeatin (cZ (Z)-2-methyl-4-(l//-purin-6-ylamino)but-... 

Several papers report new findings on ubiquinone biosynthesis. A mitochondrial membrane-rich preparation from baker s yeast can convert 4-hydroxybenzoate and isopentenyl pyrophosphate into the ubiquinone precursor 3-all-trans-hexaprenyl-4-hydroxybenzoate (234). Details of the cell-free system are presented. With preformed polyprenyl pyrophosphates, the system catalysed the polyprenylation of several aromatic compounds, e.g. methyl 4-hydroxybenzoate, 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde, 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol, and 4-hydroxycinnamate. No evidence was obtained for the involvement of 4-hydr-oxybenzoyl-CoA or 4-hydroxybenzoyl-S-protein in the reaction. With shorter-chain prenyl pyrophosphates a shorter prenyl side-chain was introduced, e.g. geranyl and farnesyl pyrophosphates gave products with a 3-diprenyl and 3-triprenyl side-chain respectively. A crude enzyme preparation from E. coli... 

The Ru catalyst can also be successfully applied to the sequential introduction of chirality into the prenyl side chain of vitamin E [20]. In this case, a Ru complex with a 2-furyl MeOBIPHEP ligand is used for the hydrogenation of unsaturated ketones to give saturated ketones in 94 ... 

Even though E. coli is a very well-studied bacterium, many interesting mechanistic problems in cofactor biosynthesis in this organism remain unsolved. The mechanisms for the formation of the nicotinamide ring of NAD, the pyridine ring of pyridoxal, the pterin system of molybdopterin, and the thiazole and pyrimidine rings of thiamin are unknown. The sulfur transfer chemistry involved in the biosynthesis of lipoic acid, biotin, thiamin and molybdopterin is not yet understood. The formation of the isopentenylpyrophosphate precursor to the prenyl side chain of ubiquinone and menaquinone does not occur by the mevalonate pathway. None of the enzymes involved in this alternative terpene biosynthetic pathway have been characterized. The aim of this review is to focus attention on these unsolved mechanistic problems. 

The biosynthesis of menaquinone is outlined in Fig. 44. Isomerization of chorismate to isochorismate followed by condensation with a-ketogluta-rate and aromatization gives o-succinylbenzoic acid. Conversion of 238 to the CoA thio ester, followed by cyclization, prenylation and methylation completes the biosynthesis. The biosynthesis of the prenyl side chain follows the alternative terpene biosynthetic pathway described for ubiquinone. 

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