Metabolism of Methionine in Plants and Phototrophic Bacteria

Abstract

The sulfur-containing amino acid methionine is a nutritionally important essential amino acid and the precursor of several metabolites that regulate plant growth and responses to the environment. New genetic and molecular data suggest that methionine synthesis and catabolism are coordinately regulated by novel post-transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms. This review focuses on new features reported for the molecular and biochemical aspects of methionine biosynthesis in higher plants with special emphasis on a comparison of the methionine biosynthetic pathway of plants with pathways of phototrophic bacteria (cyanobacteria). Particularly, the impact of the compartmentalization of methionine biosynthesis will be addressed with respect to regulatory aspects.