Structure and expression of the URA5 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The URA5 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes orotate phosphoribosyl transferase (EC 2.4.2.10; OPRTase) which catalyses the transformation of orotate to OMP in the pyrimidine pathway. We present in this paper the cloning and the sequencing of this gene, the last in the yeast pyrimidine pathway to be cloned. We have deduced the protein sequence of the OPRTase of S. cerevisiae from the DNA sequence and compared it to that of Escherichia coli, Podospora anserina and Dictyostelium discoideum. Some important similarities in the structure of these four proteins have been found. Finally, we have quantified the transcription of the URA5 gene in different physiological conditions and confirmed that it was not under the control of UTP or any intermediary product of the pathway.