YjjG, a dUMP phosphatase, is critical for thymine utilization by Escherichia coli K-12.

Exogenous thymine must be converted to thymidine to enable a thyA (thymidylate synthase) mutant to grow. The deoxyribose in the thymidine comes from dUMP, which must first be dephosphorylated. The nucleotidase YjjG is critical for this step. A yjjG thyA mutant cannot use thymine for growth on a glucose minimal medium.