4-Hydroxyphenylpyruvate Dioxygenase Like Protein (HPDL)

HPDL, Belongs to the 4HPPD family. 4-Hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase catalyzes the formation of homogentisate from p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate and molecular oxygen. In plants this enzyme activity is involved in two distinct metabolic processes, the biosynthesis of prenylquinones and the catabolism of tyrosine. Southern analysis strongly suggested that this Arabidopsis 4HPPD is encoded by a single-copy gene. The subcellular localization of the recombinant 4HPPD in chlorophyllous tissues was examined by overexpressing its complete coding sequence in transgenic tobacco, using Agrobacterium tumefaciens transformation. These analyses clearly revealed that 4HPPD was confined to the cytosol compartment, not targeted to the chloroplast. Western analyses confirmed the presence of a cytosolic form of 4HPPD in cultured green Arabidopsis cells.