Editing Metabolism (section)

===Fatty acids, isoprenoids and sterol===
{{further|Fatty acid synthesis|Steroid metabolism}}
[[File:Sterol synthesis.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|Simplified version of the [[steroid synthesis]] pathway with the intermediates [[isopentenyl pyrophosphate]] (IPP), [[dimethylallyl pyrophosphate]] (DMAPP), [[geranyl pyrophosphate]] (GPP) and [[squalene]] shown. Some intermediates are omitted for clarity.]]
Fatty acids are made by [[fatty acid synthase]]s that polymerize and then reduce acetyl-CoA units. The acyl chains in the fatty acids are extended by a cycle of reactions that add the acyl group, reduce it to an alcohol, [[dehydration reaction|dehydrate]] it to an [[alkene]] group and then reduce it again to an [[alkane]] group. The enzymes of fatty acid biosynthesis are divided into two groups: in animals and fungi, all these fatty acid synthase reactions are carried out by a single multifunctional type I protein,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Chirala SS, Wakil SJ | title = Structure and function of animal fatty acid synthase | journal = Lipids | volume = 39 | issue = 11 | pages = 1045–53 | date = November 2004 | pmid = 15726818 | doi = 10.1007/s11745-004-1329-9 | s2cid = 4043407 }}</ref> while in plant [[plastid]]s and bacteria separate type II enzymes perform each step in the pathway.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = White SW, Zheng J, Zhang YM | title = The structural biology of type II fatty acid biosynthesis | journal = [[Annual Review of Biochemistry]] | volume = 74 | pages = 791–831 | year = 2005 | pmid = 15952903 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.biochem.74.082803.133524 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ohlrogge JB, Jaworski JG | title = Regulation of Fatty Acid Synthesis | journal = [[Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology]] | volume = 48 | pages = 109–136 | date = June 1997 | pmid = 15012259 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.arplant.48.1.109 | s2cid = 46348092 }}</ref>

[[Terpene]]s and [[terpenoid|isoprenoids]] are a large class of lipids that include the [[carotenoid]]s and form the largest class of plant [[natural product]]s.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Dubey VS, Bhalla R, Luthra R | title = An overview of the non-mevalonate pathway for terpenoid biosynthesis in plants | journal = Journal of Biosciences | volume = 28 | issue = 5 | pages = 637–46 | date = September 2003 | pmid = 14517367 | doi = 10.1007/BF02703339 | url = http://www.ias.ac.in/jbiosci/sep2003/637.pdf | url-status = dead | s2cid = 27523830 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070415213325/http://www.ias.ac.in/jbiosci/sep2003/637.pdf | archive-date = 15 April 2007 }}</ref> These compounds are made by the assembly and modification of [[isoprene]] units donated from the reactive precursors [[isopentenyl pyrophosphate]] and [[dimethylallyl pyrophosphate]].<ref name="Kuzuyama-2003">{{cite journal | vauthors = Kuzuyama T, Seto H | title = Diversity of the biosynthesis of the isoprene units | journal = Natural Product Reports | volume = 20 | issue = 2 | pages = 171–83 | date = April 2003 | pmid = 12735695 | doi = 10.1039/b109860h }}</ref> These precursors can be made in different ways. In animals and archaea, the [[mevalonate pathway]] produces these compounds from acetyl-CoA,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Grochowski LL, Xu H, White RH | title = Methanocaldococcus jannaschii uses a modified mevalonate pathway for biosynthesis of isopentenyl diphosphate | journal = Journal of Bacteriology | volume = 188 | issue = 9 | pages = 3192–8 | date = May 2006 | pmid = 16621811 | pmc = 1447442 | doi = 10.1128/JB.188.9.3192-3198.2006 }}</ref> while in plants and bacteria the [[non-mevalonate pathway]] uses pyruvate and [[glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate]] as substrates.<ref name="Kuzuyama-2003"/><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lichtenthaler HK | title = The 1-Deoxy-D-Xylulose-5-Phosphate Pathway of Isoprenoid Biosynthesis in Plants | journal = [[Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology]] | volume = 50 | pages = 47–65 | date = June 1999 | pmid = 15012203 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.arplant.50.1.47 }}</ref> One important reaction that uses these activated isoprene donors is [[steroid biosynthesis|sterol biosynthesis]]. Here, the isoprene units are joined to make [[squalene]] and then folded up and formed into a set of rings to make [[lanosterol]].<ref name="Schroepfer-1981">{{cite journal | vauthors = Schroepfer GJ | title = Sterol biosynthesis | journal = [[Annual Review of Biochemistry]] | volume = 50 | pages = 585–621 | year = 1981 | pmid = 7023367 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.bi.50.070181.003101 }}</ref> Lanosterol can then be converted into other sterols such as [[cholesterol]] and [[ergosterol]].<ref name="Schroepfer-1981"/><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lees ND, Skaggs B, Kirsch DR, Bard M | title = Cloning of the late genes in the ergosterol biosynthetic pathway of Saccharomyces cerevisiae--a review | journal = Lipids | volume = 30 | issue = 3 | pages = 221–6 | date = March 1995 | pmid = 7791529 | doi = 10.1007/BF02537824 | s2cid = 4019443 }}</ref>