The Pentose Phosphate Pathway in Yeasts-More Than a Poor Cousin of Glycolysis.

ABSTRACT: The pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) is a route that can work in parallel to glycolysis in glucose degradation in most living cells. It has a unidirectional oxidative part with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase as a key enzyme generating NADPH, and a non-oxidative part involving the reversible transketolase and transaldolase reactions, which interchange PPP metabolites with glycolysis. While the oxidative branch is vital to cope with oxidative stress, the non-oxidative branch provides precursors for the synthesis of nucleic, fatty and aromatic amino acids. For glucose catabolism in the baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, where its components were first discovered and extensively studied, the PPP plays only a minor role. In contrast, PPP and glycolysis contribute almost equally to glucos

SUBMITTER: Bertels LK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8151747 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature