Definition
The 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate (DXP) pathway is a metabolic pathway for the conversion of pyruvate and d-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (G3P) into isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) by seven enzymatic reaction steps (all intermediates and enzymes together with their common abbreviations are listed in Tables 1 and 2, respectively). In all organisms studied so far, IPP and DMAPP are the precursor molecules for the synthesis of a class of biomolecules known as isoprenoids (or terpenoids). In P. falciparum, the DXP pathway is the only metabolic route leading to IPP and DMAPP. The enzymes of the DXP pathway of P. falciparum are localized inside the apicoplast. The DXP pathway is absent in humans who use the well-known mevalonate pathway instead (Fig. 1). Through the mevalonate pathway, three molecules of acetyl CoA...
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Wiesner, J., Jomaa, H. (2013). 1-Deoxy-d-Xylulose 5-Phosphate Pathway. In: Hommel, M., Kremsner, P. (eds) Encyclopedia of Malaria. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8757-9_10-1
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