The protein encoded by this gene belongs to the GHMP (galacto-, homoserine, mevalonate and phosphomevalonate) kinase family and catalyzes the phosphorylation of L-fucose to form beta-L-fucose 1-phosphate. This enzyme catalyzes the first step in the utilization of free L-fucose in glycoprotein and glycolipid synthesis. L-fucose may be important in mediating a number of cell-cell interactions such as blood group antigen recognition, inflammation, and metastatis. While several transcript variants may exist for this gene, the full-length nature of only one has been described to date. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]