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HEIndividual fellowship2023–2025

Phe-Degradation · Discovery of a novel phenylalanine degradation pathway in plants

Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2023-04-01 → 2025-03-31
EU contribution
€189,687
Participants
1
Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

Discovery of a novel phenylalanine degradation pathway in plants

Plant aromatic amino acids, particularly phenylalanine (Phe), are precursors for a wide variety of specialized metabolites involved in defense, development, and communication. While the biosynthetic routes for these compounds are well characterized, much less is known about how Phe is degraded in plants. In contrast to animals and microbes, where Phe degradation has been intensively studied, plants appear to possess distinct, yet poorly defined catabolic pathways. This project aimed to uncover a plant-specific degradation route of Phe via mandelate, a metabolite rarely studied in plant systems but with high industrial value. The identification and characterization of this pathway could open up new directions for metabolic engineering, enabling the sustainable production of valuable chemicals from renewable plant biomass. The project addresses broader political and societal needs, such as the transition to environmentally sustainable production systems and the diversification of natural product supply chains. By improving our understanding of how plants manage aromatic amino acid metabolism in response to environmental signals, this research also provides insights into how plant metabolism may be optimized for changing climate conditions.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Plants are anticipated to be a more sustainable platform for chemical production than fossil-fuel-based chemical production, as plants can produce various natural products using CO2 as a solo carbon source. In plants, phenylalanine (Phe) is an aromatic amino acid that acts as precursors of numerous Phe-derived specialized metabolites, many of which are utilized for nutritional, pharmaceutical, and biomaterial uses in our society. Whereas plants produce a large amount of Phe to produce such abundant Phe derivatives, Phe itself is so toxic and must be somehow safely detoxified to balance its biosynthesis and degradation. Despite a growing body of knowledge on Phe biosynthesis, however, little is known about Phe degradation, because a plant Phe degradation pathway has not been discovered, unlike the well-characterized Phe degradation in animals. This knowledge gap has been a long-term mystery in the plant metabolism research field for decades, making plant-based chemical production for Phe-derived natural products difficult on a commercial scale. The applicant has studied the biosynthesis of Phe in plants and found a piece of evidence for a putative Phe degradation pathway in Arabidopsis. Combining biochemistry and plant genetics with start-of-art metabolomics, this proposal will aim to identify enzymes mediating a novel Phe degradation pathway and elucidate the roles of Phe degradation in plant metabolism. These potential findings will uncover the unique plant Phe degradation that has never been described in animals and accelerate the development of plant-based chemical production for Phe-derived high-value chemicals.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EV · MUNCHENCoordinatorGermany

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union