Metabolism Lecture - 12

Glyoxylate
Cycle

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 Glyoxylate Cycle
• The glyoxylate cycle is generally not present in human and animal tissue,
and can only be found in plants, bacteria, fungi and protists .
• As a shunt in the TCA cycle, the glyoxylate cycle shares three out of five
metabolic enzymes with the cycle: malate dehydrogenase , citrate
synthase and aconitase , by-passing the two decarboxylation steps
catalyzed by isocitrate dehydrogenase and α-ketoglutarate
dehydrogenase complex.
• Instead of converting isocitrate to α-ketoglutarate in TCA cycle, the
glyoxylate cycle enzyme isocitrate lyase catalyzes the conversion of
isocitrate (C6) into glyoxylate (C2) and succinate (C4).
• Subsequently, malate synthase catalyzes the condensation of glyoxylate
with acetyl-CoA (C2) to produce malate (C4) and a free CoA molecule.
Location – Glyoxysome – Anabolic Rex
• Substrate = 2 Acetyl CoA (2C).
• Product = 1 Succinate(4C)

Consist of 5 enzymatic step.

• Common enzyme – Citrate synthase,
aconitase, malate dehydrogenase.

• Key enzyme – Isocitrate lyase , Malate

synthase
Q. Which of the following is correct regarding the Glyoxylate pathway:-

A. The glyoxylate cycle is a cyclic pathway that converts two molecules of

acetyl-CoA, to one molecule of succinate.
B. The glyoxylate cycle involves several citric acid cycle enzymes and two
additional enzymes: isocitrate lyase and Malate Synthetases.
C. In the glyoxylate cycle, the bypassing of one decarboxylation step of the
citric acid.
D. In the glyoxylate cycle, the succinate produced is transported to the
mitochondria, where it enters the TCA cycle and is converted to malate.
Anaplerotic reactions, a term coined by Hans Kornberg
and originating from the Greek ἀνά= ‘up’ and πληρόω=
‘to fill’, are chemical reactions that form intermediates of
a metabolic pathway.