Molecular and genetic characterization of a biotin biosynthetic gene in Arabidopsis encoding both 7,8-diaminopelargonic acid aminotransferase and dethiobiotin synthetase
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The Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology was founded to give students an understanding of life principles through the understanding of chemical and physical principles. Among these principles are frontiers of biotechnology such as metabolic networking, the structure of hormones and proteins, genomics, and the like.
History
The Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics was founded in 1959, and was administered by the College of Sciences and Humanities (later, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences). In 1979 it became co-administered by the Department of Agriculture (later, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences). In 1998 its name changed to the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology.
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1959–present
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- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics (1959–1998)
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- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (parent college)
- College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (parent college)
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Abstract
Biotin is an essential enzyme cofactor required for different metabolic processes. Plants are a major source of biotin, however, the genes and the protein products of biotin biosynthetic pathway are not fully characterized. We have molecularly characterized the genetically defined Arabidopsis bio1 locus as encoding 7,8-diaminopelargonic acid (DAPA) aminotransferase. Molecular and genetic analysis revealed that the full length BIO1 cDNA is capable of producing a fusion protein that catalyzes not only DAPA aminotransferase, but also dethiobiotin synthetase (BIO3) which is another enzymatic step in the biotin biosynthetic pathway. We refer to this fusion-gene as BIO3/BIO1. This bifunctional enzyme was demonstrated by functional complementation of E. coli bioA - and bioD- mutants deficient in DAPA aminotransferase and dethiobiotin synthetase reactions, respectively. This gene organization is unique in biology and establishes that the BIO3/BIO1 gene has dual functions.