The shikimate pathway is a primary metabolic pathway involved in the synthesis
of aromatic compounds in plants, fungi, apicomplexan parasites and microbes.
The absence of this pathway in animals makes it ideal for the synthesis of
antimicrobial compounds and herbicides. Additionally, its branching into indole
hormone synthesis and phenylpropanoid secondary metabolism makes this
pathway attractive for metabolic engineering. Here, the focus is on the first step
of the shikimate pathway catalyzed by DAHP synthase. This step consists of the
condensation of phosphoenol pyruvate and erythrose-4-phosphate to make
DAHP, which undergoes another six catalytic steps to synthesize chorismate, the
precursor of the aromatic amino acids. Arabidopsis thaliana contains three DAHP
synthase isozymes, which are known to indirectly regulate downstream pathways
in response to wounding and pathogen stress. The model presented here
proposes that DAHP synthase isozymes are regulated by the end products
tyrosine, tryptophan and phenylalanine.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/17222 |
| Date | 26 February 2009 |
| Creators | Shahinas, Dea |
| Contributors | Christendat, Dinesh |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 3056670 bytes, application/pdf |
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