Pyrimidine biosynthesis genes (pyrE and pyrF) of an extreme thermophile, Thermus thermophilus

Abstract

We have isolated uracil auxotrophic mutants of an extreme thermophile, Thermus thermophilus. A part of the pyrimidine biosynthetic operon including genes for orotate phosphoribosyltransferase (pyrE) and for orotidine-5'- monophosphate decarboxylase (pyrF) was cloned and sequenced. The pyrE gene can be a bidirectional marker for the gene manipulation system of the thermophile.