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Nature Chemical Biology 3, 251 (1 May 2007) | doi:10.1038/nchembio0507-251

Research Highlights

BluB's clues Although vitamin B12 was identified almost 100 years ago, the mechanism by which the pendant piece, 5,6-dimethylbenzamidazole (DMB), is constructed has remained a mystery. The source of this substructure had been identified as flavin, but the complexity of the necessary flavin-DMB transformation suggests that several biosynthetic enzymes are involved.