 Once the semialdehyde is formed, saccharopine reductase (E.C 1.5.1.10) catalyses a condensation reaction with glutamate and NAD(P)H, as a proton donor, and the imine is reduced to produce the penultimate product, saccharopine.The final step of the pathway in fungi involves the saccharopine dehydrogenase (SDH) (E.C 1.5.1.8) catalysed oxidative deamination of saccharopine, resulting in "L"-lysine.In a variant AAA pathway found in some prokaryotes, AAA is first converted to "N"‑acetyl-α-aminoadipate, which is phosphorylated and then reductively dephosphorylated to the ε-aldehyde.