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Delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is the obligatory precursor for the synthesis of all tetrapyrroles including porphyrin derivatives such as chlorophyll and heme. ALA can be synthesized via two different pathways: the Shemin (or C4) pathway which involves the single step condensation of succinyl-CoA and glycine and which is catalyzed by ALA synthase (EC 2.3.1.37) and via the C5 pathway from the five-carbon skeleton of glutamate. The C5 pathway operates in the chloroplast of plants and algae, in cyanobacteria, in some eubacteria and in archaebacteria.

The initial step in the C5 pathway is carried out by glutamyl-tRNA reductase (GluTR) [1] which catalyzes the NADP-dependent conversion of glutamate-tRNA(Glu) to glutamate-1-semialdehyde (GSA) with the concomitant release of tRNA(Glu) which can then be recharged with glutamate by glutamyl-tRNA synthetase.

GluTR is a protein of about 50 Kd (467 to 550 residues) which contains a few conserved region. The best conserved region is located in positions 99 to 122 in the sequence of known GluTR. This region seems important for the activity of the enzyme. We have developed a signature pattern from that conserved region.

April 2006 / Pattern revised.

PROSITE method (with tools and information) covered by this documentation:

GLUTR, PS00747; Glutamyl-tRNA reductase signature  (PATTERN)

Consensus pattern: [HY]-[LIVMAF]-x(2)-[LIVM]-[GSTACIV]-[GSTAC]-[GSA]-[LIVMFA]-[DEQHY]-S-x-[LIVMAS]-[LIVMFKS]-[GFA]-[DE]-x-[EQRD]-[IV]-[LIVTQAM]-[TAGRKS]-Q-[LIVMF]-[KRE] Sequences known to belong to this class detected by the pattern: ALL Other sequence(s) detected in Swiss-Prot: NONE

• Retrieve an alignment of Swiss-Prot true positive hits:   Clustal format, color, condensed view  / Clustal format, color  / Clustal format, plain text  / Fasta format • Retrieve the sequence logo from the alignment • Taxonomic tree view of all Swiss-Prot/TrEMBL entries matching PS00747 • Retrieve a list of all Swiss-Prot/TrEMBL entries matching PS00747 • Scan Swiss-Prot/TrEMBL entries against PS00747 • view ligand binding statistics

Matching PDB structures: 1B29 1B61 1GPJ [ALL]

1	Authors	Jahn D., Verkamp E., Soell D.
	Title	Glutamyl-transfer RNA: a precursor of heme and chlorophyll biosynthesis.
	Source	Trends Biochem. Sci. 17:215-218(1992).
	PubMed ID	1502723

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