What is the proposed mechanism of wax biosynthesis to produc

What is the proposed mechanism of wax biosynthesis to produce the cuticle?

Solution

In humans :Wax biosynthesis takes place in two reaction steps.The first step is catalysed with the help of FAR1 and FAR2 enzymes.The second step is catalysed by enzymes AWAT1 and AWAT2. In the first step,FAR1 and FAR2 catalyze the reaction in which fatty acids are first reduced to fatty alcohols in the peroxisome.In the second dtep,AWAT1 and AWAT2 catalyze the reaction in which fatty alcohols and acyl-CoA react in the cytosol to form wax esters.

In plants:In plants there are two pathways in which wax is produced by

Primary alcohol pathway and Alkane pathway.

Long-chain aliphatic compounds are major wax components.Wax is derived from saturated and very long chain fatty acids (VLCFAs)that are 20 to 34 carbons in length. VLCFA wax precursors are synthesized in plastids by addition of 2-carbon moieties to the 18-carbon fatty acids present in plastids.A 4-enzyme ER-membrane-bound fatty acid elongation (FAE) system is the enzyme system that catalyses the reaction.. VLCFAs thus generated in the epidermis further produce other wax components, such as aldehydes, primary and secondary alcohols, alkanes, ketones, and esters.This is produced by two wax biosynthetic pathways: the primary alcohol (acyl reduction) pathway and the alkane (decarbonylation) pathway.