Intermediate in the
de novo synthesis of pyrimidines. Linked glycosidically to
ribose 5' phosphate,
orotate forms the pyrimidine
nucleotide orotidylate, that on
decarboxylation at position 5 of the pyrimidine
ring yields the
major nucleotide uridylate (uridine 5' phosphate).
This
entry appears with alow from the Vocabulary of Cell and Molecular Biology