Summary
The isoleucine-α-ketoglutarate and valine-α-ketoglutarate transaminase activities have been attributed to an enzyme coded in E. coli K-12 by the ilvE gene. I report here evidence that these two activities can be dissociated and appear to be the products of two different genes. Mutants altered in the ilvE gene are devoid of isoleucine-α-ketoglutarate transaminase activity and possess a normal valine-α-ketoglutarate transaminase activity. I describe here mutants lacking valine transaminase activity. They are altered in a gene, ilvJ, located between ilvE and ilvD at 83 min on the E. coli K-12 map. Temperature-sensitive revertants of the mutant containing the ilvJ mutation show a temperature-sensitive valine-α-ketoglutarate transaminase activity. I conclude that ilvJ is the structural gene for valine-α-ketoglutarate transaminase.
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Guardiola, J. Requirement of the newly recognized ilvJ gene for the expression of a valine transaminase activity in E. coli K-12. Molec. Gen. Genet. 158, 157–164 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00268308
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00268308