Expression and functional analysis of glutamate synthase small subunit-like proteins from archaeon Pyrococcus horikoshii.

Glutamate synthase, glutamine α-ketoglutarate amidotransferase (often abbreviated as GOGAT) is a key enzyme in the early stages of ammonia assimilation in bacteria, algae and plants, catalyzing the reductive transamidation of the amido nitrogen from glutamine to α-ketoglutarate to form two molecules of glutamate. Most bacterial glutamate synthases consist of a large and small subunit. The genomes of three Pyrococcus species harbour several open reading frames which show homology with the small subunit of glutamate synthase.