Synthesis of 10,11-dihydrofarnesyl pyrophosphate from 6,7-dihydrogeranyl pyrophosphate by prenyltransferase.

The syntheses of 6,7-dihydrogeraniol and of its pyrophosphate are described. It is shown that this analogue of geranyl pyrophosphate is a substrate for liver prenyltransferase and that the product synthesized by this enzyme from it and isopentenyl pyrophosphate is 10,11-dihydrofarnesyl pyrophosphate. The K(m) value for 6,7-dihydrogeranyl pyrophosphate was determined to be 1.11+/-0.19mum as compared with 4.34+/-1.71mum for geranyl pyrophosphate. The maximum reaction velocity with the artifical substrate was, however, only about one-fourth of that observed with geranyl pyrophosphate. The binding of isopentenyl pyrophosphate to the enzyme was not affected by the artificial substrate.