title: Functional conservation between the argininosuccinate lyase of the archaeon Methanococcus maripaludis and the corresponding bacterial and eukaryal genes.
abstract: The argH gene encoding argininosuccinate lyase (ASL) of Methanococcus maripaludis was cloned on a 4.7-kb HindIII genomic fragment. The gene is preceded by a short open reading frame (ORF149), which encodes a polypeptide with an unknown function. The two genes are co-transcribed. The ASL of M. maripaludis shares a high amino acid identity with ASLs from both bacterial and eukaryal origins and was able to complement both an argH Escherichia coli mutant and an arg4 yeast mutant, showing its extraordinary evolutionary conservation. Attempts to create an argH auxotroph of M. maripaludis by disrupting the genomic allele were unsuccessful: although a knockout allele of argH was integrated into the M. maripaludis chromosome by homologous recombination, the intact copy was not excluded, suggesting that the argH gene is essential.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle 98195-7242, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cohen-Kupiec
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kupiec
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sandbeck
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Leigh
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001123:Argininosuccinate Lyase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D019641:DNA, Archaeal; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D017017:Methanococcus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014170:Transformation, Genetic
chemical_list: D019641:DNA, Archaeal; D001123:Argininosuccinate Lyase