This entry represents a group of ethanolamine-phosphate cytidylyltransferases and related proteins, including Ect1 from budding yeasts, PCYT2 from animals and PECT1 from plants. They catalyse the second step in the synthesis of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) from ethanolamine via the CDP-ethanolamine pathway and are involved in the maintenance of plasma membrane [, ]. In humans, mutations in the PCYT2 gene disrupt etherlipid biosynthesis and cause a complex hereditary spastic paraplegia []. In plants, defects in PECT1 affect embryonic and postembryonic development in Arabidopsis [].
