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Evidence for enzyme complexes in the phenylpropanoid and flavonoid pathways
Author(s) -
WinkelShirley Brenda
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
physiologia plantarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.351
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1399-3054
pISSN - 0031-9317
DOI - 10.1034/j.1399-3054.1999.100119.x
Subject(s) - phenylpropanoid , flavonoid , enzyme , chemistry , biochemistry , biology , biosynthesis , antioxidant
A growing body of evidence indicates that phenylpropanoid and flavonoid metabolism is catalyzed, not by free‐floating ‘soluble’ enzymes, but via one or more membrane‐associated multienzyme complexes. This type of macromolecular organization has important implications for the overall efficiency, specificity, and regulation of these pathways. Classical biochemical studies of phenylpropanoid and flavonoid metabolism have laid a solid foundation for this model, providing evidence of the channeling of intermediates between enzyme active sites and co‐localization of enzymes in cell membranes. This work is now being extended using transgenic plants to determine how the partitioning of metabolites within these pathways is controlled, as well as applying sensitive methods to define specific interactions among the individual enzymes. Information from these studies promises to provide new insights into the structuring of biosynthetic pathways within cells, which should lead to more effective means for engineering the production of plant metabolites with nutritional and agronomic importance.