The discovery of a mevalonate-independent pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis in bacteria, algae and higher plants.

1 Isoprenoid biosynthesis 1.1 The mevalonate route to isopentenyl diphosphate 1.2 Isoprenoid biosynthesis in higher plants: some contradictions with the mevalonate pathway 2 The discovery of the mevalonate-independent pathway 2.1 The origin of the discovery: the biosynthesis of bacterial hopanoids 2.2 The origin of the carbon atoms of isoprenic units in the mevalonate-independent pathway 2.3 d-Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate and pyruvate as the first precursors of isopentenyl diphosphate 3 Towards the identification of intermediates and enzymes of the new pathway 3.1 1-Deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate and 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase 3.2 2-C-Methyl-d-erythritol 4-phosphate and 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reducto-isomerase 4 The distribution of the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate/pyruvate pathway amongst prokaryotes 5 The distribution of the GAP/pyruvate pathway amongst phototrophic eukaryotes 5.1 Essential plant chloroplast isoprenoids and sterols from green algae 5.2 Isoprenoids from secondary metabolism 5.3 Intermediate exchanges between the mevalonate and the GAP/pyruvate pathways in plants 6 Conclusion 7 Acknowledgments 8 References