Vitamin B6 is a water-soluble vitamin essential for all living organisms. It is an important cofactor for enzymatic reactions in over one hundred different cellular reactions and processes. Vitamin B6 exists in different natural forms called vitamers, which are produced by plants, bacteria, and fungi, but not by animals and humans. These vitamers include: pyridoxal (PL), pyridoxine (PN) and pyridoxamine (PM) and their phosphorylated vitamers, PLP, PNP and PMP respectively. Vitamin B6 metabolic pathway was mainly characterized in E. coli, however most organisms, including plants, utilize an alternate pathway. In plants, the various vitamers can be produced via different specific pathways. In A. thaliana, this biosynthetic pathway involves few subpathways, which include: glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), and glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism. Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate produced by glycolysis and ribulose 5-phosphate produced by PPP are synthesized to pyridoxal 5-phosphate by a synthase. Pyridoxal 5-phosphate is then dephosphorylated to pyridoxal. Pyridoxal, a form of vitamin B6, could act as a precursor for butanoate metabolsim. Moreover, from PPP, 2-Oxo-3-hydroxy-4-phosphobutanoate is produced, this is synthesized to O-phospho-4-hydroxy-L-threonine and then to 4-hydroxy-L-threonine. Pyridoxine could also be produced after a multistep reaction from 4-hydroxy-L-threonine, which is then synthesized to pyridoxal. Glycoaldehyde produced from glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism is converted to pyridoxine. Pyridoxine could also undergo phosphorylation where it is converted to pyridoxine phosphate which is then synthesized to pyridoxal 5-phosphate where the later is dephosphorylated to pyridoxal. Pyridoxal could also be synthesized to pyridoxamine, this that is phosphorylated to pyridoxamin 5-phosphate, which is then synthesized to pyridoxal 5-phosphate.

Vitamin B6 Metabolism References