A biosynthetic gene cluster for three post-chorismate pathways in Arabidopsis

Journal Article · Mon Jan 05 00:00:00 EST 2026 · Nature Plants (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-02185-5· OSTI ID:3011709

Peng, Meng ^[1]; Li, Jin ^[1]; Liu, Xinyu ^[1]; Liu, Anran ^[1]; De Meester, Barbara ^[1]; Brouckaert, Marlies ^[1]; Goeminne, Geert ^[1]; Morreel, Kris ^[1]; Li, Yanding ^[2]; Timokhin, Vitaliy I. ^[2]; Vanholme, Ruben ^[1]; Ralph, John ^[2]; Boerjan, Wout ^[1]

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1. Ghent Univ. (Belgium); Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), Ghent (Belgium)
2. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

Chorismate is a branch-point metabolite in the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids, vitamins, antibiotics and various other aromatic products in bacteria, fungi and plants. Although 13 chorismate-utilizing enzymes have been identified in bacteria, only 6 have been described in plants, where an estimated 30% of all photosynthetically fixed carbon passes through chorismate. Here, in this study, we describe a biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) consisting of five core genes, including two reductases, two methyltransferases and one glucosyltransferase. Genetic and biochemical evidence shows that these five enzymes collectively give rise to three biosynthetic pathways, each originating from chorismate: two parallel pathways produce a class of non-aromatic, isomeric compounds abundant in the roots of Arabidopsis thaliana, whereas the third pathway produces methylated and glucosylated chorismate derivatives that subsequently react non-enzymatically with glutathione. Genome analysis revealed that variants of this BGC are present in some but not all species in the Brassicaceae family. Taken together, our study uncovered a BGC, containing three chorismate-utilizing enzymes, that controls three distinct post-chorismate pathways in A. thaliana. This work not only advances our understanding of carbon flow in this model plant but also highlights that the biochemical complexity encoded by plant BGCs is greater than previously appreciated.

• Research Organization: Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), Madison, WI (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: National Institutes of Health (NIH); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0018409
• OSTI ID: 3011709
• Journal Information: Nature Plants (Online), Journal Name: Nature Plants (Online); ISSN 2055-0278
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English