Duplication and Functional Divergence of Branched-Chain Amino Acid Biosynthesis Genes in Aspergillus nidulans.

ABSTRACT: Fungi, bacteria, and plants, but not animals, synthesize the branched-chain amino acids: leucine, isoleucine, and valine. While branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) biosynthesis has been well characterized in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, it is incompletely understood in filamentous fungi. The three BCAAs share several early biosynthesis steps before divergence into specific pathways. In Aspergillus nidulans, the genes for the first two dedicated steps in leucine biosynthesis have been characterized, but the final two have not. We used sequence searches of the A. nidulans genome to identify two genes encoding β-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase, which catalyzes the penultimate step of leucine biosynthesis, and six genes encoding BCAA aminotransferase, which catalyzes the final step in biosyn

SUBMITTER: Steyer JT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8262921 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature