The ethanolic fermentation pathway supports respiration and lipid biosynthesis in tobacco pollen

Mellema, Stefan; Eichenberger, Waldemar; Rawyler, André; Suter, Marianne; Tadege, Million; Kuhlemeier, Cris (2002). The ethanolic fermentation pathway supports respiration and lipid biosynthesis in tobacco pollen. The Plant Journal, 30(3), pp. 329-336. Blackwell Science 10.1046/j.1365-313X.2002.01293.x

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Rapid pollen tube growth requires a high rate of sugar metabolism to meet energetic and biosynthetic demands. Previous work on pollen sugar metabolism showed that tobacco pollen carry out efficient ethanolic fermentation concomitantly with a high rate of respiration (Bucher et al ., 1995). Here we show that the products of fermentation, acetaldehyde and ethanol, are further metabolised in a pathway that bypasses mitochondrial PDH. The enzymes involved in this pathway are pyruvate decarboxylase, aldehyde dehydrogenase and acetyl-CoA synthetase. Radiolabelling experiments show that during tobacco pollen tube growth label of C-14-ethanol is incorporated into CO2 as well as into lipids and other higher molecular weight compounds. A role for the glyoxylate cycle appears unlikely since activity of malate synthase, a key enzyme of the glyoxylate cycle, could not be detected.

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