Genetic and molecular characterisation of purine permease genes of Aspergillus nidulans reveals a novel family of transporters conserved in prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

The ascomycete fungus Aspergillus nidulans can utilize purines (adenine, guanine, hypoxanthine, xanthine, and uric acid) as sole nitrogen sources [1]. The expression of most structural genes involved in the pathway of purine uptake and catabolism is subject to uric acid induction, mediated by the product of the positive regulatory gene uaY, and to nitrogen metabolite repression, mediated by the product of the general, positive-acting, GATA-like transcription factor, encoded by the areA gene [1].