Contribution of mevalonate and methylerythritol phosphate pathways to polyisoprenoid biosynthesis in the rubber-producing plant Eucommia ulmoides oliver.

The biosynthetic origin of isopentenyl diphosphate in the polyisoprenoid biosynthesis of the rubber-producing plant Eucommia ulmoides Oliver was elucidated for the first time by feeding experiments using 13C-labeled isotopomers of (RS)-mevalonate, 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-3,4,5-triacetate, 2C-methyl-D-erythritol-1,2,3,4-tetraacetate, and pyruvate. After 13C-labeled isotopomers were fed to the young seedlings, the polyisoprenoid fractions were prepared and analyzed by 13C NMR. The NMR data showed that the isoprene units of polyisoprenoid derived from isopentenyl diphosphate, which was biosynthesized using both mevalonate and 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate in E. ulmoides. It is assumed that the cross-talk of isopentenyl diphosphate, derived from both pathways, occurs during the biosynthesis of polyisoprenoid; therefore, it was observed in the formation of low-molecular weight isoprenoids.