The biosynthetic intermediate PRPP (phosphoribosylpyrophosphate) has a central role in cellular biochemistry since it links carbon and nitrogen metabolism. Its importance may be reflected in the fact that, in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) genome, there are five unlinked genes, PRS1–PRS5, each of which is theoretically capable of encoding the enzyme synthesizing PRPP. Interference with the complement of PRS genes in S. cerevisiae has far-reaching consequences for yeast physiology and has uncovered unexpected metabolic links including cell wall integrity and phospholipid metabolism.

Keywords:
CTP, metabolic networking, Prs (phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase), Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Slt2, valproate
© 2005 The Biochemical Society
2005
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