Abstract
The biosynthesis of isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP), the biological precursor of isoprenoid substances, is known as the acetate mevalonate pathway. In the latter pathway the condensation of three acetyl-CoA, followed by two reduction steps (HMGCoA reductase), yields mevalonic acid which is converted to IPP. In higher plants, the biosynthesis of sterols occurs via mevalonic acid (1) and can be inhibited by mevinolin, a highly specific inhibitor of mevalonate formation (2). In contrast, in several green algae we could not find any inhibition effect of mevinolin on growth and multiplication of cells. Some 13C-labelling experiments in the green alga Scenedesmus (3) showed that the main sterol components are synthesized via a novel mevalonate-independent glyceraldehyde phosphate/pyruvate pathway of IPP biosynthesis first found in some eubacteria (4, 5). Here we show that this also applies to Chlorella.
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