Summary
The 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate pathway of L-tyrosine biosynthesis is well known. The presence of a second pathway appears to be a group characteristic of the blue-green algae (bacteria) which accordingly synthesize L-tyrosine by transamination of prephenate followed by a dehydrogenation reaction. An amino acid metabolite, pretyrosine, is the novel biochemical intermediate of the new pathway (denoted the pretyrosine pathway). All species of blue-green bacteria tested possessed only the pretyrosine pathway, while a variety of non-photosynthetic taxa exhibited only the 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate pathway. A cell type that may reflect some properties of an ancient evolutionary intermediate is the pseudomonad group, a possibility suggested by the ability ofPseudomonas aeruginosa extracts to carry out both sets of pathway reactions.
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Jensen, R.A., Stenmark, S.L. The ancient origin of a second microbial pathway for L-tyrosine biosynthesis in prokaryotes. J Mol Evol 4, 249–259 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01732984
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01732984