RT Conference Proceedings
T1 Phenylalanine biosynthesis: the role and evolution of arogenate dehydratase gene family in c
A1 El-Azaz-Ciudad, Jorge
A1 Cánovas-Ramos, Francisco Miguel
A1 De-la-Torre-Fazio, Fernando Nicolás
A1 Ávila-Sáez, Concepción
K1 Fenilalanina
AB In plants, arogenate dehydratase activity (ADT, EC 4.2.1.91) is responsible forthe last step in the main pathway for phenylalanine biosynthesis, known as thearogenate pathway, which consist in two steps: the conversion of prephenate toarogenate in a reaction catalyzed by the enzyme prephenate aminotransferase (PAT, EC2.6.1.78) and the decarboxylation of arogenate to render phenylalanine catalyzed byADT. The arogenate pathway results of particular interest according to the importantrole of phenylalanine in plant metabolism, acting as the main gate of entry tophenylpropanoids biosynthesis, that constitute up to 30 to 45% of plant organic matter(Razal et al., 1996). This is particularly relevant in perennial woody plants, in whichlignification process and resultant biomass acumulation through plant life cycle arenotably important.Despite of the high importance of phenylalanine biosynthesis and derivedphenylpropanoids in plants biology, the arogenate pathway still remains poorlycharacterized, particularly in woody plants. Very recently, two independent publicationsreported physiological evidences suggesting an alternative arogenate-independentpathway for phenylalanine biosynthesis in plants (Yoo et al., 2013; De la Torre et al.,2014), as described previously in fungi and bacteria. This pathway is dependent of aprephenate dehydratase enzyme (PDT, EC 4.2.1.51) catalyzing the conversion ofprephenate to phenylpyruvate, being subsequently converted into phenylalanine througha transamination reaction. It has been reported that ADT and PDT activities are housedin the same proteins in plants (Cho et al., 2007).Here we present preliminary results focused on the characterization of theADT/PDT gene family in maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.), a conifer tree ofecological and commercial interest. Our results demonstrate the existence of at least 9ADT-like genes in the P. pinaster transcriptome, showing organ- and developmentspecificmRNA and protein expression profiles. Moreover, 3 of those 9 candidate genespresent a distinctive phylogenetic clustering, forming a conifer-characteristic group ofADT-like genes differenced from the remaining ADT sequences. These findingshighlights the potential importance of ADT/PDT activities in conifer metabolism,suggesting the existence of a singular and highly-specialized prephenate-relatedmetabolism in conifers.Cho MH, Corea OR, Yang H, Bedgar DL, Laskar DD, Anterola AM, Moog-Anterola FA, Hood RL,Kohalmi SE, Bernards MA, Kang C, Davin LB and Lewis NG. (2007) Phenylalanine biosynthesis inArabidopsis thaliana. Identification and characterization of arogenate dehydratases. J Biol Chem.282(42):30827-35.
YR 2014
FD 2014-06-19
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10630/7701
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10630/7701
LA eng
NO Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech.
DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga
RD 22 ene 2026