Cellular localization of isoprenoid biosynthetic enzymes in Marchantia polymorpha. Uncovering a new role of oil bodies

Like seed plants, liverworts synthesize and accumulate a myriad of isoprenoid compounds. Using antibodies raised against several isoprenoid biosynthetic enzymes, we investigated their intracellular compartmentation by in situ immunolocalization from Marchantia polymorpha. The enzymes examined were deoxy-xylulose phosphate synthase, geranyl diphosphate synthase, farnesyl diphosphate synthase, geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase, monoterpene synthase, geranylgeranyl diphosphate reductase, phytoene synthase, and phytoene desaturase. Our results show that liverwort oil bodies, which are organelles bound by a single unit membrane, possess isoprenoid biosynthetic enzymes similar to those found in plastids and the cytosol. We postulate that oil bodies play a dynamic role in cell metabolism in addition to their role as sites of essential oil accumulation and sequestration. The occurrence of such enzymes in different cellular compartments might be due to multiple targeting of gene products to various organelles.