Plants need their vitamins too

Over recent years, the pathways for the biosynthesis of many vitamins have been elucidated at the molecular level in plants, and several unique features are emerging. One is that the mitochondrion plays an important role in the synthesis of folate (vitamin B 9), biotin (B 7), pantothenate (B 5), asc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current opinion in plant biology 2007-06, Vol.10 (3), p.266-275
Main Authors: Smith, Alison G, Croft, Martin T, Moulin, Michael, Webb, Michael E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arabidopsis
Arabidopsis thaliana
ascorbic acid
biochemical pathways
biosynthesis
Biosynthetic Pathways - physiology
biotin
folic acid
literature reviews
mitochondria
Mitochondria - metabolism
pantothenic acid
plant physiology
plants
Plants - metabolism
thiamin
vitamins
Vitamins - biosynthesis
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Summary:Over recent years, the pathways for the biosynthesis of many vitamins have been elucidated at the molecular level in plants, and several unique features are emerging. One is that the mitochondrion plays an important role in the synthesis of folate (vitamin B 9), biotin (B 7), pantothenate (B 5), ascorbate (C), and possibly thiamin (B 1). Second, the production of some of these cofactors is regulated by developmental cues, and perhaps more surprisingly, by environmental signals such as high light and salinity. Moreover, the biosynthesis of thiamin in Arabidopsis may be negatively regulated by a riboswitch, a novel method of gene regulation that is characteristic of cofactor biosynthesis in bacteria. Vitamin B 12 is unique in that it is not found in vascular plants, but is abundant in algae; recent molecular work has revealed that algae do not synthesise the vitamin but instead obtain it from bacteria.
ISSN:1369-5266
1879-0356
DOI:10.1016/j.pbi.2007.04.009