Predicted to enable histidine ammonia-lyase activity. Involved in L-histidine catabolic process. Predicted to be located in cytoplasm. Is expressed in intestine and nervous system. Human ortholog(s) of this gene implicated in histidinemia. Orthologous to human HAL (histidine ammonia-lyase).
WB Description
haly-1 encodes a histidine ammonia lyase orthologous to the human gene HISTIDASE (HAL; OMIM:235800); HALY-1 is required in C. elegans for conversion of histidine to urocanic acid via reductive deamination; loss-of-function mutations in haly-1 result in protection against zinc and nickel toxicity owing to increased levels of metal-chelating histidine; genetic studies suggest that haly-1 functions in parallel to members of the cation diffusion facilitator family of zinc transporters encodes by cdf-1, cdf-2, and sur-7 to modulate zinc sensitivity; haly-1 mRNA levels do not vary under different dietary zinc conditions.