Work

Methylerythritol Phosphate Pathway of Isoprenoid Biosynthesis

Year: 2013

Type: review

Abstract: Isoprenoids are a class of natural products with more than 55,000 members. All isoprenoids are constructed from two precursors, isopentenyl diphosphate and its isomer dimethylallyl diphosphate. Two of the most important discoveries in isoprenoid biosynthetic studies in recent years are the elucidation of a second isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway [the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway] and a modified mevalonic acid (MVA) pathway. In this review, we summarize mechanistic insights on the MEP pathway enzymes. Because many isoprenoids have important biological activities, the need to produce them in sufficient quantities for downstream research efforts or commercial application is apparent. Recent advances in both MVA and MEP pathway-based synthetic biology are also illustrated by reviewing the landmark work of artemisinic acid and taxadien-5α-ol production through microbial fermentations.

Source: Annual Review of Biochemistry

DOI: 10.1146/annurev-biochem-052010-100934

Authors: Lishan Zhao, Wei-chen Chang, Youli Xiao, Hung-wen Liu, Pinghua Liu

Institutions: Amyris (United States), The University of Texas at Austin, Boston University

Language: English

Topic: Plant biochemistry and biosynthesis

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Division of Chemistry

Awards: Investigation of Unusual Cyclization Reactions in Biocatalysis, Mechanistic studies of enzymes in isoprenoid biosynthesis