title: The rudimentary gene of Drosophila melanogaster encodes four enzymic functions.
abstract: We have determined the 7168 nucleotide DNA sequence corresponding to the messenger RNA of the rudimentary gene of Drosophila melanogaster. By sequence comparison with genes involved in the pyrimidine pathway of prokaryotes and lower eukaryotes, we conclude that the rudimentary gene encodes four enzymically different functions. Each function is restricted to a specific coding domain but in an order different from that previously defined by genetic data. We have found that the corresponding mammalian gene, the CAD gene, exhibits a similar functional organization, and we propose schemes for the evolution of the corresponding coding sequences.
mesh_terms: D000581:Amidohydrolases / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000878:Anthranilate Synthase; D001221:Aspartate Carbamoyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002223:Carbamoyl-Phosphate Synthase (Glutamine-Hydrolyzing) / Q000235:genetics*; D004247:DNA; D004080:Dihydroorotase / Q000235:genetics*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D005796:Genes; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D008025:Ligases / Q000235:genetics*; D019884:Nitrogenous Group Transferases; D011743:Pyrimidines / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000235:genetics; D014166:Transferases / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D011743:Pyrimidines; D004247:DNA; D014166:Transferases; D001221:Aspartate Carbamoyltransferase; D019884:Nitrogenous Group Transferases; D000581:Amidohydrolases; D004080:Dihydroorotase; D000878:Anthranilate Synthase; C020655:anthranilate synthase, glutamine amidotransferase subunit; D008025:Ligases; D002223:Carbamoyl-Phosphate Synthase (Glutamine-Hydrolyzing); C030986:pyrimidine