Tocopherol and phylloquinone biosynthesis in chloroplasts requires the phytol kinase VTE5 and the farnesol kinase FOLK.

Chlorophyll degradation causes the release of phytol, which is converted into phytyl-diphosphate (phytyl-PP) by phytol kinase (VITAMIN E PATHWAY GENE5, VTE5) and phytyl-phosphate (phytyl-P) kinase (VTE6). The kinase pathway is important for tocopherol synthesis, as the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) vte5 mutant contains reduced levels of tocopherol. Arabidopsis harbors one paralog of VTE5, FOLK (farnesol kinase) involved in farnesol phosphorylation. Here, we demonstrate that VTE5 and FOLK harbor kinase activities for phytol, geranylgeraniol and farnesol with different specificities. While the tocopherol content of the folk mutant is unchanged, vte5-2 folk plants completely lack tocopherol. Tocopherol deficiency in vte5-2 plants can be complemented by overexpression of FOLK, indicating that FOLK is an authentic gene of tocopherol synthesis. The vte5-2 folk plants contain only ∼40% of wild-type amounts of phylloquinone, demonstrating that VTE5 and FOLK both contribute in part to phylloquinone synthesis. Tocotrienol and menaquinone-4 were produced in vte5-2 folk plants after supplementation with homogentisate or 1,4-dihydroxy-2-naphthoate, respectively, indicating that their synthesis is independent of the VTE5/FOLK pathway. These results show that phytyl moieties for tocopherol synthesis are completely, but for phylloquinone production only partially derived from geranylgeranyl-chlorophyll and phytol phosphorylation by VTE5 and FOLK.

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