| abstract |
Biopterin is a useful compound to be used in a pharmaceutical product or a functional food. Conventionally, the presence of sepiapterin reductase (SPR) involved in the biosynthesis of biopterin has not been confirmed in microorganisms with the exception of only a few microorganisms such as blue-green algae, and it has been desired to obtain and use a microorganism-derived SPR gene for efficient production of biopterin using a microorganism. The inventors found that when yeast-derived YIR035C gene or Bacillus-derived yueD gene was transformed into yeast or E. coli, the transformed microorganism secreted biopterin into a culture medium. Based on this finding, the invention provides a polypeptide, a DNA encoding the polypeptide, a recombinant vector comprising the DNA, and a transformant transformed with the vector, which are useful for producing bioprterin using a microorganism. It also provides a method for producing biopterin efficiently using the transformant. |