PubMed · 2026-06-09
Plants produce a family of long, chain-like molecules called linear isoprenoids that are essential for photosynthesis, energy production, and building proteins with sugar tags. This review maps out what these molecules do in plant cells and hints at newly discovered roles in plant reproduction.
Two separate cellular factories (the MVA pathway in the cytoplasm and the MEP pathway in plastids) produce these long-chain isoprenoids, with each supplying distinct membranes: ER, mitochondria, and chloroplasts.
Dolichol acts as an essential cofactor for protein glycosylation and GPI anchor synthesis in the ER membrane, while solanesol/spadicol serves as the side chain of ubiquinone driving electron transport in mitochondrial respiration.
Emerging evidence from yeast studies and biophysical experiments suggests these linear isoprenoids may have previously unrecognized roles in plant sexual reproduction.