consequence, bond rupture between C6 and C7 due to protonation of the former going through a carbanion state has been proposed. Finally, catalysis might take place by simple electrostatic attraction. C6 carbanion formation would create dipole interactions with a cationic Lys from the active site. This does not explain the velocity increase when compared with the uncatalyzed process. Clinical significance A UMP synthase deficiency can result in a metabolic disorder called orotic aciduria. Deficiency of this enzyme is an inherited autosomal recessive trait in Holstein cattle, and it will cause death before birth. Deficiency of the enzyme can be studied in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. The rad-6 strain has a premature stop codon eliminating the orotidine 5’-decarboxylase domain of the protein; this domain does not occur in any other proteins encoded by the genome. The strain has a pleiotropic phenotype including reduced viability and fertility, slow growth, and radiation sensitivity. Pharmacological importance UMPS and its two separate domains, ODCase and OPRTase, have been shown to be essential to viability in parasites from the Chromoalveolata taxon such as L. donovani or P. falciparum. Since UMPS, ODCase and OPRTase are different between organisms, research on species-specific inhibitors has been performed. Inhibition OPRTase Studies on OPRTase inhibition are based on substrate analogues. In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, two of the most promising inhibitors are 2,6-dihydroxipyridine-4-carboxylic acid and 3-benzylidene-2,6-dioxo-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine-4-carboxylic acid. Union enthalpy and enthropy from the latter correspond to high-affinity ligands. Properties such as lipophilicity, solubility, permeability, and equilibrium constants are under study. Selenilation products have also been used. Abdo et al. (2010) performed reactions on 2-ethoxiethanselenic acid using electron-rich aromatic substrates to produce (2-ethoxiethyl)seleno ethers. These are able to become aryl-selenilated products such as the 5-uridinyl family, which has shown inhibition at submicromolar concentrations in P. falciparum and H. sapiens. ODCase ODCase inhibitors also come from substrate analogues such as modifications on the OMP or UMP rings. In H. sapiens, ODCase has been inhibited by halide compounds derived from UMP (e.g., 5-FUMP, 5-BrUMP, 5-IUMP, and 6-IUMP.) In Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum, a different strategy has been applied, modifying weak interacting ligands as cytidine-5’-monophosphate, which derivates into barbiturate ribonucleoside-5’-monophosphate, xantosine-5’-monophosphate. P. falciparum ODCase has been successfully inhibited by modifications on cytidine-5’-monophosphate N3 and N4. Interactive pathway map See also Orotidine 5'-phosphate decarboxylase Orotate phosphoribosyltransferase References Further reading EC 4.1.1 EC 2.4.2