a carboxylate anion. The enzyme finally releases malate and coenzyme A. Function The citric acid cycle (also known as the tricarboxylic acid cycle or the Krebs cycle) is used by aerobic organisms to produce energy via the oxidation of acetyl-CoA, which is derived from pyruvate (a product of glycolysis). The citric acid cycle accepts acetyl-CoA and metabolizes it to form carbon dioxide. A related cycle, called the glyoxylate cycle, is found in many bacteria and plants. In plants, the glyoxylate cycle takes place in glyoxysomes. In this cycle, isocitrate lyase and malate synthase skip over the decarboxylation steps of the citric acid cycle. In other words, malate synthase works together with isocitrate lyase in the glyoxylate cycle to bypass two oxidative steps of Krebs cycle and permit carbon incorporation from acetate or fatty acids in many microorganisms. Together, these two enzymes serve to produce succinate (which exits the cycle to be used for synthesis of sugars) and malate (which remains in the glyoxylate cycle). During this process, acetyl-CoA and water are used as substrates. As a result, the cell does not lose 2 molecules of carbon dioxide as it does in the Krebs cycle. The glyoxylate cycle, facilitated by malate synthase and isocitrate lyase, allows plants and bacteria to subsist on acetyl-CoA or other two carbon compounds. For example, Euglena gracilis, a single-celled eukaryotic alga, consumes ethanol to form acetyl-CoA and subsequently, carbohydrates. Within germinating plants, the glyoxylate cycle allows the conversion of reserve lipids into carbohydrates within glyoxysomes. Evolutionary history Malate synthase is found as an octamer of identical subunits (each roughly 60kDa) in some plants, including maize. It is found as a homotetramer in the fungus Candida and as a homodimer in eubacteria. Malate synthase is fused to the C-terminus of isocitrate lyase in C. elegans, resulting in a single bifunctional protein. While there is currently not sufficient sequence information to determine the exact evolutionary history of malate synthase, plant, fungal, and C. elegans sequences are distinct and show no homologues from archaebacteria. Activity in humans Traditionally, malate synthases are described in bacteria as part of the glyoxylate cycle, and malate synthase activity had not been reported for a human protein prior to a study by Strittmatter, et al. In this study, CLYBL was found to be a human mitochondrial enzyme with malate synthase activity. It is found in multiple eukaryotic taxa and is conserved in bacteria. CLYBL