Abstract
Recent reviews on quinones have concentrated on different aspects of their biology and chemistry. The biosynthesis, ecology and toxicology of quinones are treated1 in a book edited by Higuchi. An article2 on the biosynthesis of chorismate-derived quinones refers to work on quinone-producing plant cell cultures. It is demonstrated that there are quite a few quinones which are produced in cell cultures in rather large amounts. This is amazing for two reasons: firstly, secondary plant products are quite often produced in rather small amounts in cell cultures and secondly, quinones originate from very different biosynthetic precursors such as acetate or phenylalanine, tyrosine and/or mevalonic acid. Thus the observation that quinones are produced in rather large amounts in cell cultures is unlikely to be due to a single regulatory phenomenon. The different biosynthetic pathways leading to quinones are outlined in another review.3 Work on the biosynthesis of vitamin K is most advanced when compared to the investigation of the biosynthesis of other quinones.4
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