The plant pathogen enzyme AldC is a long-chain aliphatic aldehyde dehydrogenase.

Aldehyde dehydrogenases are versatile enzymes that serve a range of biochemical functions. Although traditionally considered metabolic housekeeping enzymes because of their ability to detoxify reactive aldehydes, like those generated from lipid peroxidation damage, the contributions of these enzymes to other biological processes are widespread. For example, the plant pathogen strain DC3000 uses an indole-3-acetaldehyde dehydrogenase to synthesize the phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid to elude host responses.