期刊
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
卷 98, 期 3, 页码 1130-1135出版社
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.031576398
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Visual pigments (rhodopsins) are composed of a chromophore (vitamin A derivative) bound to a protein moiety embedded in the retinal membranes. Animals cannot synthesize the visual chromophore de novo but rely on the uptake of carotenoids, from which vitamin A is formed enzymatically by oxidative cleavage. Despite its importance, the enzyme catalyzing the key step in vitamin A formation resisted molecular analyses until recently, when the successful cloning of a cDNA encoding an enzyme with beta,beta -carotene-15,15'-dioxygenase activity from Drosophila was reported. To prove its identity with the key enzyme for vitamin A formation in vivo, we analyzed the blind Drosophila mutant ninaB. In two independent ninaB alleles, we found mutations in the gene encoding the beta,beta -carotene-15,15'-dioxygenase. These mutations lead to a defect in vitamin A formation and are responsible for blindness of these flies.
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