This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses the bioinformatics tools associated with the Guiding Education through Novel Investigation – Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (GENI-ACT) to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of the genes Mrub_2994 and Mrub_1844. We predict that Mrub_1884 encodes the enzyme dihydroxy-acid dehydratase (DNA coordinates 1901362..1903026 on the forward strand), which is the third step of the valine biosynthesis pathway (KEGG map number 00290). It catalyzes the conversion of 2,3-dihydroxy-3methylbutanoate to 3-methyl-2-oxobutanoate. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted to be b3771, which has the gene identifier ilvD. We also predict that Mrub_2994 encodes the enzyme branched-chain amino acid transaminase. (DNA coordinates 3033210..3034169 on the forward strand), which is the fourth step of the valine biosynthesis pathway (KEGG map number 00290). It catalyzes the conversion of 3-methyl-2-oxobutanoate to L-valine. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted to be b3770, which has the gene identifier ilvE
