H218O under the bridge: Recently, the deoxyxylulose phosphate (DXP) pathway was discovered to be a second pathway supplying isoprenoid biosynthetic precursors. One of steps is an IspG‐catalyzed reductive deoxygenation of methylerythritol cyclodiphosphate (MEcPP) to 4‐hydroxyl‐3‐methyl‐2‐(E)‐1‐diphosphate (HMBPP). Using [2‐13C,18O]‐MEcPP, we detected the positional isotopic exchange for the bridging oxygen in MEcPP.
The inside cover picture shows that the enzyme IspG in the deoxyxylulose phosphate pathway can mediate a reversible CÀO bond cleavage at an inert position. This hypothesis was supported by the detection of diphosphate ester bridging and terminal oxygen atom exchange.
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