This gene encodes alanine-glyoxylate aminotransferase, which catalyzes the interconversion of L-alanine and glyoxylate to pyruvate and glycine. Two alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms have been found for this gene. The longer transcript variant includes an upstream translation start codon and a downstream translation start codon. The upstream start codon initiates the translation of the mitochondrial enzyme precursor while the downstream start codon initiates the translation of the peroxisomal enzyme (see PMID:2332438). [provided by RefSeq, Feb 2013]