Contribution of hydroxymethylbutenyl diphosphate synthase to carotenoid biosynthesis in bacteria and plants

The methylerythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway synthesizes the precursors of carotenoids and other isoprenoids in bacteria and plant plastids. Despite recent progress in the identification of rate-determining steps, the relative contribution of most pathway enzymes to flux control remains to be established. In this work we investigated whether upregulated levels of hydroxymethylbutenyl diphosphate synthase (HDS) could increase the metabolic flux through this pathway, as judged by endpoint (carotenoid) measurements. Unlike other MEP pathway enzymes, however, increasing the levels of an active HDS protein in carotenoid-producing Escherichia coli cells and transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants did not result in an enhanced accumulation of MEP-derived isoprenoids. Our data suggest that enhanced flux through the MEP pathway for peak demand periods in bacteria and plastids does not require increased HDS activity.Work was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia and FEDER to MRC (BIO2005-00357) and PV (BFU2006-00803) and from the Generalitat de Catalunya (Distinció) to MRC. UFP and JPG received PhD fellowships from the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (FPU and FPI programs, respectively). ARV received a PhD fellowship from the Generalitat de Catalunya.Peer reviewe