Recognition of a gene involved in the regulation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide biosynthesis.

Mutations affecting the biosynthesis of quinolinic acid, a precursor of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) in Escherichia coli K-12, are either near min 17 (nadA mutants) or near min 49 on the chromosome. These nad mutants all exhibit a phenotypic requirement for NAD or one of its immediate precursors. The mutants with lesions near min 49 can be separated into two groups based on in vitro complementation analysis. One group (nadB) exhibits complementation with nadA mutants, whereas the other group fails to do so. The latter group is tentatively designated nadR based on its regulation of the unlinked nadA gene. The nadR gene maps adjacent to nadB between purI and tyrA.