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The biosynthetic pathway of vitamin C in higher plants

Author

Listed:
  • Glen L. Wheeler

    (School of Biological Sciences, University of Exeter, Hatherly Laboratories)

  • Mark A. Jones

    (School of Biological Sciences, University of Exeter, Hatherly Laboratories)

  • Nicholas Smirnoff

    (School of Biological Sciences, University of Exeter, Hatherly Laboratories)

Abstract

Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) has important antioxidant and metabolic functions in both plants and animals, but humans, and a few other animal species, have lost the capacity to synthesize it1. Plant-derived ascorbate is thus the major source of vitamin C in the human diet. Although the biosynthetic pathway of L-ascorbic acid in animals is well understood2, the plant pathway has remained unknown3—one of the few primary plant metabolic pathways forwhich this is the case. L-ascorbate is abundant in plants (found at concentrations of 1–5 mM in leaves and 25 mM in chloroplasts3,4) and may have roles in photosynthesis and transmembrane electron transport3,4,5. We found that D-mannose and L-galactose are efficient precursors for ascorbate synthesis and are interconverted by GDP-D-mannose-3,5-epimerase. We have identified an enzyme in pea and Arabidopsis thaliana, L-galactose dehydrogenase, that catalyses oxidation of L-galactose to L-galactono-1,4-lactone. We propose anascorbate biosynthesis pathway involving GDP-D-mannose, GDP-L-galactose, L-galactose and L-galactono-1,4-lactone, and have synthesized ascorbate from GDP-D-mannose by way of these intermediates in vitro. The definition of this biosynthetic pathway should allow engineering of plants for increased ascorbate production, thus increasing their nutritional value and stress tolerance.

Suggested Citation

  • Glen L. Wheeler & Mark A. Jones & Nicholas Smirnoff, 1998. "The biosynthetic pathway of vitamin C in higher plants," Nature, Nature, vol. 393(6683), pages 365-369, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:393:y:1998:i:6683:d:10.1038_30728
    DOI: 10.1038/30728
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    Cited by:

    1. Chen, Jinliang & Kang, Shaozhong & Du, Taisheng & Qiu, Rangjian & Guo, Ping & Chen, Renqiang, 2013. "Quantitative response of greenhouse tomato yield and quality to water deficit at different growth stages," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 152-162.
    2. Alessandro Boverio & Neelam Jamil & Barbara Mannucci & Maria Laura Mascotti & Marco W. Fraaije & Andrea Mattevi, 2024. "Structure, mechanism, and evolution of the last step in vitamin C biosynthesis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Chen, Jinliang & Kang, Shaozhong & Du, Taisheng & Guo, Ping & Qiu, Rangjian & Chen, Renqiang & Gu, Feng, 2014. "Modeling relations of tomato yield and fruit quality with water deficit at different growth stages under greenhouse condition," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 131-148.
    4. Yan Wang & Mengya Ji & Min Wu & Ling Weng & Yongming Wang & Lingyi Hu & Min-Jie Cao, 2022. "Toward Green Farming Technologies: A Case Study of Oyster Shell Application in Fruit and Vegetable Production in Xiamen," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    5. Liu, Hao & Li, Huanhuan & Ning, Huifeng & Zhang, Xiaoxian & Li, Shuang & Pang, Jie & Wang, Guangshuai & Sun, Jingsheng, 2019. "Optimizing irrigation frequency and amount to balance yield, fruit quality and water use efficiency of greenhouse tomato," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).

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