Nucleotide-sugar metabolism in plants: the legacy of Luis F. Leloir

Abstract

This review commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to Luis F. Leloir 'for his discovery of sugar-nucleotides and their role in the biosynthesis of carbohydrates'. He and his co-workers discovered that activated forms of simple sugars, such as UDP-glucose and UDP-galactose, are essential intermediates in the interconversion of sugars. They elucidated the biosynthetic pathways for sucrose and starch, which are the major end-products of photosynthesis, and for trehalose. Trehalose 6-phosphate, the intermediate of trehalose biosynthesis that they discovered, is now a molecule of great interest due to its function as a sugar signalling metabolite that regulates many aspects of plant metabolism and development. The work of the Leloir group also opened the doors to an understanding of the biosynthesis of cellulose and other structural cell wall polysaccharides (hemicelluloses and pectins), and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Nucleotide-sugars also serve as sugar donors for a myriad of glycosyltransferases that conjugate sugars to other molecules, including lipids, phytohormones, secondary metabolites, and proteins, thereby modifying their biological activity. In this review, we highlight the diversity of nucleotide-sugars and their functions in plants, in recognition of Leloir's rich and enduring legacy to plant science.