The glyoxylate cycle is a metabolic pathway that allows organisms like plants and microbes to convert acetate and fatty acids into carbohydrates. In vertebrates, acetate produced from fatty acids is lost as carbon dioxide during the TCA cycle. But the glyoxylate cycle allows other organisms to bypass these two decarboxylation steps, instead converting acetate into the TCA cycle intermediate succinate and then into carbohydrates through gluconeogenesis. This pathway occurs in specialized organelles called glyoxysomes in plants, which contain enzymes that catalyze both fatty acid breakdown and the glyoxylate cycle.
The glyoxylate cycle is a metabolic pathway that allows organisms like plants and microbes to convert acetate and fatty acids into carbohydrates. In vertebrates, acetate produced from fatty acids is lost as carbon dioxide during the TCA cycle. But the glyoxylate cycle allows other organisms to bypass these two decarboxylation steps, instead converting acetate into the TCA cycle intermediate succinate and then into carbohydrates through gluconeogenesis. This pathway occurs in specialized organelles called glyoxysomes in plants, which contain enzymes that catalyze both fatty acid breakdown and the glyoxylate cycle.
The glyoxylate cycle is a metabolic pathway that allows organisms like plants and microbes to convert acetate and fatty acids into carbohydrates. In vertebrates, acetate produced from fatty acids is lost as carbon dioxide during the TCA cycle. But the glyoxylate cycle allows other organisms to bypass these two decarboxylation steps, instead converting acetate into the TCA cycle intermediate succinate and then into carbohydrates through gluconeogenesis. This pathway occurs in specialized organelles called glyoxysomes in plants, which contain enzymes that catalyze both fatty acid breakdown and the glyoxylate cycle.
The glyoxylate cycle is a metabolic pathway that allows organisms like plants and microbes to convert acetate and fatty acids into carbohydrates. In vertebrates, acetate produced from fatty acids is lost as carbon dioxide during the TCA cycle. But the glyoxylate cycle allows other organisms to bypass these two decarboxylation steps, instead converting acetate into the TCA cycle intermediate succinate and then into carbohydrates through gluconeogenesis. This pathway occurs in specialized organelles called glyoxysomes in plants, which contain enzymes that catalyze both fatty acid breakdown and the glyoxylate cycle.
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Glyoxylate Cycle
Glyoxylate Cycle • Vertebrates can’t convert fatty acids, or acetate derived from them, to carbohydrates • In vertebrates, for every two carbons that enter TCA as acetyl-CoA, two CO2 leave
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Glyoxylate Cycle In many organisms other than vertebrates, glyoxylate cycle serves as a mechanism for converting acetate to carbohydrates
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Quiz Glyoxylate cycle helps the conversion of A. Fats to lipids B. Fats to Acetyl CoA C. Acetate to carbs
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Glyoxylate Cycle In plants, certain invertebrates, and some microorganisms (E. coli and yeast) acetate can serve both as • An energy rich fuel and • Source for carbohydrate synthesis In these organisms, glyoxylate cycle catalyzes the net conversion of acetate to succinate
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Quiz Glyoxylate cycle usually does not happen in A. Vertebrates B. Plants C. Invertebrates D. Microbes
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2 Acetyl-CoA + NAD+ + 2H2O
succinate + 2CoA + NADH + H+
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Quiz Glyoxylate cycle happens in A. Nucleus B. Cytosol C. Glyoxysomes D. Mitochondria
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Glyoxylate Cycle In plants, enzymes of glyoxylate cycle are sequestered in membrane-bounded organelles called glyoxysomes (specialized peroxisomes)
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Glyoxylate Cycle • Glyoxysomes are not present in all plant tissues at all times • They develop in lipid-rich seeds during germination • In addition to glyoxylate cycle enzymes, glyoxysomes contain all the enzymes needed for degradation of fatty acids
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Glyoxylate Cycle • Acetyl-CoA formed from fatty acids converted to succinate • Succinate exported to mitochondria, TCA enzymes transform it to malate • Cytosolic isozyme of MDH oxidizes malate to OAA, precursor for gluconeogenesis
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10/15/2020 Biochemistry for medics 13 Glyoxylate Cycle Four distinct pathways participate in these conversions: • Fatty acid breakdown to acetyl-CoA (in glyoxysomes) • GlyoxyIate cycle (in glyoxysomes) • Citric acid cycle (in mitochondria) and • Gluconeogenesis (in the cytosol)