Erythrose 4-phosphate is a

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...

of the simple sugar

erythrose Erythrose is a tetrose saccharide with the chemical formula C4H8O4. It has one aldehyde group, and is thus part of the aldose family. The natural isomer is D-erythrose; it is a diastereomer of D -threose. Erythrose was first isolated in 1849 ...

. It is an intermediate in the

pentose phosphate pathway The pentose phosphate pathway (also called the phosphogluconate pathway and the hexose monophosphate shunt and the HMP Shunt) is a metabolic pathway parallel to glycolysis. It generates NADPH and pentoses (5-carbon sugars) as well as ribose 5-pho ...

and the

Calvin cycle The Calvin cycle, light-independent reactions, bio synthetic phase, dark reactions, or photosynthetic carbon reduction (PCR) cycle of photosynthesis is a series of chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and hydrogen-carrier compounds into ...

. In addition, it serves as a precursor in the biosynthesis of the aromatic amino acids

tyrosine -Tyrosine or tyrosine (symbol Tyr or Y) or 4-hydroxyphenylalanine is one of the 20 standard amino acids that are used by cells to synthesize proteins. It is a non-essential amino acid with a polar side group. The word "tyrosine" is from the G ...

phenylalanine Phenylalanine (symbol Phe or F) is an essential α-amino acid with the formula . It can be viewed as a benzyl group substituted for the methyl group of alanine, or a phenyl group in place of a terminal hydrogen of alanine. This essential amin ...

, and

tryptophan Tryptophan (symbol Trp or W) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. Tryptophan contains an α-amino group, an α-carboxylic acid group, and a side chain indole, making it a polar molecule with a non-polar aromatic ...

. It is used in the first step of the

shikimate pathway The shikimate pathway (shikimic acid pathway) is a seven-step metabolic pathway used by bacteria, archaea, fungi, algae, some protozoans, and plants for the biosynthesis of folates and aromatic amino acids (tryptophan, phenylalanine, and tyrosine) ...

. At this stage,

phosphoenolpyruvate Phosphoenolpyruvate (2-phosphoenolpyruvate, PEP) is the ester derived from the enol of pyruvate and phosphate. It exists as an anion. PEP is an important intermediate in biochemistry. It has the highest-energy phosphate bond found (−61.9 kJ/m ...

and erythrose-4-phosphate react to form

3-deoxy-D-arabinoheptulosonate-7-phosphate 3-Deoxy--''arabino''-heptulosonic acid 7-phosphate (DAHP) is a 7-carbon ulonic acid. This compound is found in the shikimic acid biosynthesis pathway and is an intermediate in the production of aromatic amino acids. Phosphoenolpyruvate and er ...

(DAHP), in a reaction catalyzed by the enzyme DAHP synthase. : DAHP synthase reaction

It also used in 3-hydroxy-1-aminoacetone phosphate biosynthesis, which is a precursor of

vitamin B6 Vitamin B6 is one of the B vitamins, and thus an essential nutrient. The term refers to a group of six chemically similar compounds, i.e., " vitamers", which can be interconverted in biological systems. Its active form, pyridoxal 5′-phosp ...

in DXP-dependent pathway.

Erythrose-4-phosphate dehydrogenase In enzymology, an erythrose-4-phosphate dehydrogenase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction :D-erythrose 4-phosphate + NAD+ + H2O \rightleftharpoons 4-phosphoerythronate + NADH + 2 H+ The 3 substrates of this enzyme are D-erythr ...

is used to produce erythronate-4-phosphate.

References

{{biochem-stub Monosaccharide derivatives Organophosphates