Author/Editor     Andersen, G; Merico, A; Bjornberg, O; Andersen, B; Schnackerz, KD; Dobritzsch, D; Piškur, J; Compagno, C
Title     Catabolism of pyrimidines in yeast: a tool to understand degradation of anticancer drugs
Type     članek
Source     Nucleosides Nucleotides Nucleic Acids
Vol. and No.     Letnik 25, št. 9-11
Publication year     2006
Volume     str. 991-6
Language     eng
Abstract     The pyrimidine catabolic pathway is of crucial importance in cancer patients because it is involved in degradation of several chemotherapeutic drugs, such as 5-fluorouracil; it also is important in plants, unicellular eukaryotes, and bacteria for the degradation of pyrimidine-based biocides/antibiotics. During the last decade we have developed a yeast species, Saccharomyces kluyveri, as a model and tool to study the genes and enzymes of the pyrimidine catabolic pathway. In this report, we studied degradation of uracil and its putative degradation products in 38 yeasts and showed that this pathway was present in the ancient yeasts but was lost approximately 100 million years ago in the S. cerevisiae lineage.
Descriptors     DRUG SCREENING ASSAYS, ANTITUMOR
ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS
EVOLUTION, MOLECULAR
FLUOROURACIL
FUNGAL PROTEINS
GENE EXPRESSION REGULATION, FUNGAL
GENES, FUNGAL
GENOME, FUNGAL
MODELS, GENETIC
PHYLOGENY
PYRIMIDINES
SACCHAROMYCES
TIME FACTORS
URACIL