Predicted to enable lipoate synthase activity. Predicted to be involved in lipoate biosynthetic process. Predicted to act upstream of or within several processes, including neural tube closure; response to lipopolysaccharide; and response to oxidative stress. Predicted to be active in mitochondrion. Human ortholog(s) of this gene implicated in pyruvate decarboxylase deficiency. Orthologous to human LIAS (lipoic acid synthetase). [provided by Alliance of Genome Resources, Apr 2022]