title: A new subfamily of the Nudix hydrolase superfamily active on 5-methyl-UTP (ribo-TTP) and UTP.
abstract: A new subfamily of the Nudix hydrolases, identified by conserved amino acids upstream and downstream of the Nudix box, has been characterized. The cloned, expressed, and purified orthologous enzymes have major activities on the non-canonical nucleoside triphosphate 5-methyl-UTP (ribo-TTP) and the canonical nucleotide UTP. In addition to their homologous signature sequences and their similar substrate specificities, the members of the subfamily are inhabitants of or are related to the bacterial rhizosphere. We propose the acronym and mnemonic, utp, for the gene designating this unique UTPase.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.
authors.forename: WenLian
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: JianYing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.forename: Maurice J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bessman
mesh_terms: D016960:Agrobacterium tumefaciens / Q000201:enzymology; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D016934:Caulobacter / Q000201:enzymology; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000201:enzymology; D011755:Pyrophosphatases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D014544:Uridine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism*; D000096964:Nudix Hydrolases
chemical_list: D011755:Pyrophosphatases; D014544:Uridine Triphosphate; D000096964:Nudix Hydrolases; C023278:uridine triphosphatase