Patent ID: 6472164
Filing Date: 2002-10-29
Classification: C12N,C12Q

Abstract:
A method for evaluating the ability of a compound to inhibit protoporphyrinogen oxidase activity, comprising the steps of:(1) transforming with a vector a host cell deficient in growing ability based on protoporphyrinogen oxidase activity, said vector comprising a DNA fragment coding for enzyme protoporphyrinogen oxidase which is capable of oxidizing protoporphyrinogen into protoporphyrin and which confers growth ability, wherein said DNA fragment is operably linked to a promoter functional in said host cell; (2) culturing said transformant expressing said protoporphyrinogen oxidase DNA in a medium containing substantially no protoheme compounds, wherein in a first comparative system there is a presence of a test compound to measure a growth rate of the transformant and in a second comparative system there is an absence of said test compound; and (3) determining the ability of the test compound to inhibit the protoporphyrinogen oxidase activity by comparing the growth rates of the first comparative system to the second comparative system, wherein an inhibition of the growth rate is indicative of an inhibition of protoporphyrinogen oxidase activity by said test compound.