Huazhen Liu, Lakshminarayan M. Iyer, Paul Norris, Ruiying Liu, Keshun Yu, Murray Grant, L. Aravind, Aardra Kachroo & Pradeep Kachroo

Dietary consumption of lysine in humans leads to the biosynthesis of Δ¹-piperideine-6-carboxylic acid (P6C), with elevated levels linked to the neurological disorder epilepsy. Here we demonstrate that P6C biosynthesis is also a critical component of lysine catabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana. P6C regulates vitamin B6 homeostasis, and increased P6C levels deplete B6 vitamers, resulting in compromised plant immunity. We further establish a key role for pyridoxal and pyridoxal-5-phosphate biosynthesis in plant immunity. Our analysis indicates that P6C metabolism probably evolved through combining select lysine and proline metabolic enzymes horizontally acquired from diverse bacterial sources at different points during evolution. More generally, certain enzymes from the lysine and proline metabolic pathways were probably recruited in evolution as potential guardians of B6 vitamers and for semialdehyde detoxification.

Nature Plants. February 2025