uridine phosphorylases similar to Escherichia coli Udp and related phosphorylases
Uridine phosphorylase (UP) is specific for pyrimidines, and is involved in pyrimidine salvage and in the maintenance of uridine homeostasis. In addition to E. coli Udp, this subfamily includes Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 UP and Plasmodium falciparum purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PfPNP). PfPNP is an outlier in terms of genetic distance from the other families of PNPs. PfPNP is catalytically active for inosine and guanosine, and in addition, has a weak UP activity. This subfamily belongs to the nucleoside phosphorylase-I (NP-I) family, whose members accept a range of purine nucleosides as well as the pyrimidine nucleoside uridine. The NP-1 family includes phosphorolytic nucleosidases, such as purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNPs, EC. 2.4.2.1), uridine phosphorylase (UP, EC 2.4.2.3), and 5'-deoxy-5'-methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP, EC 2.4.2.28), and hydrolytic nucleosidases, such as AMP nucleosidase (AMN, EC 3.2.2.4), and 5'-methylthioadenosine/S-adenosylhomocysteine (MTA/SAH) nucleosidase (MTAN, EC 3.2.2.16). The NP-I family is distinct from nucleoside phosphorylase-II, which belongs to a different structural family.