Plant one-carbon metabolism and its engineering

The metabolism of one-carbon (C-1) units is vital to plants. It involves unique enzymes and takes place in four subcellular compartments. Plant C-1 biochemistry has remained relatively unexplored, partly because of the low abundance or the lability of many of its enzymes and intermediates. Fortunately, DNA sequence databases now make it easier to characterize known C-1 enzymes and to discover new ones, to identify pathways that might carry high C-1 fluxes, and to use engineering to redirect C-1 fluxes and to understand their control better.