Towards a comprehensive understanding of the chlorophyll breakdown pathway

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For better understanding of the chlorophyll breakdown pathway in plants, we investigated the function of chlorophyllase, a common plant enzyme that catalyzes the cleavage of chlorophyll to form chlorophyllide and phytol. We found that this enzyme is localized in the endoplasmic reticulum and the tonoplast. This enzyme actively catalyzes chlorophyllide formation only when cells are disrupted. Arabidopsis leaves with genetically enhanced CLH activity exhibit toxicity when fed to Spodoptera larvae, an insect herbivore. Purified chlorophyllide partially suppresses the growth of the larvae. We showed that chlorophyllase and chlorophyll form a two-component defense system against chewing herbivores.