Isoprenoid Biosynthesis through the Methylerythritol Phosphate Pathway: The (E)-4-Hydroxy-3-methylbut-2-enyl Diphosphate Synthase (GcpE) is a [4Fe–4S] Protein

Abstract

One of the last bottlenecks in the elucidation of the methylerythritol phosphate pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis has been solved. A [4Fe–4S] cluster is the prosthetic group of the GcpE protein from E. coli. This enzyme is involved in the conversion of 1 into 2, through two successive one-electron transfers.