Auxin biosynthesis: are the indole-3-acetic acid and phenylacetic acid biosynthesis pathways mirror images?

The biosynthesis of the main auxin in plants (indole-3-acetic acid [IAA]) has been elucidated recently and is thought to involve the sequential conversion of Trp to indole-3-pyruvic acid to IAA. However, the pathway leading to a less well studied auxin, phenylacetic acid (PAA), remains unclear. Here, we present evidence from metabolism experiments that PAA is synthesized from the amino acid Phe, via phenylpyruvate. In pea (Pisum sativum), the reverse reaction, phenylpyruvate to Phe, is also demonstrated. However, despite similarities between the pathways leading to IAA and PAA, evidence from mutants in pea and maize (Zea mays) indicate that IAA biosynthetic enzymes are not the main enzymes for PAA biosynthesis. Instead, we identified a putative aromatic aminotransferase (PsArAT) from pea that may function in the PAA synthesis pathway.