Förster resonance energy transfer demonstrates a flavonoid metabolon in living plant cells that displays competitive interactions between enzymes

We have used Förster resonance energy transfer detected by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM-FRET) to provide the first evidence from living plants cells for the existence of a flavonoid metabolon. The distribution of flux within this system may be regulated by the direct competition of enzymes that catalyze key branch-point reactions, flavonol synthase 1 and dihydroflavonol 4-reductase, for association with the entry-point enzyme, chalcone synthase. Because the flavonoid enzymes were likely recruited from pathways of primary metabolism, our findings suggest a new general working model for the regulation of dynamic pathways in their native cellular context.