The eda gene encodes 2-keto-3-deoxy-6-phosphogluconate (KDPG) aldolase, which cleaves KDPG into pyruvate and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate. This reaction represents the final step of the Entner–Doudoroff (ED) pathway, one of the three main routes for glucose catabolism, alongside the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas (EMP) and pentose phosphate (PP) pathways. The ED pathway channels carbon as pyruvate and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate into the lower part of glycolysis, where they are further metabolized to generate energy. In this pathway, glucose is first oxidized to 6-phosphogluconate, which is then dehydrated by 6-phosphogluconate dehydratase (Edd) to produce KDPG, the substrate cleaved by KDPG aldolase [335]. Silencing the ED pathway has been observed to increase flux through the pentose phosphate pathway, particularly when the EMP pathway is attenuated, redirecting carbon toward NADPH generation and biosynthetic precursors [324].