Dynamic Structural Changes Accompany the Production of Dihydroxypropanesulfonate by Sulfolactaldehyde Reductase

Abstract

2,3-Dihydroxypropanesulfonate (DHPS) is a major sulfur species in the biosphere. One important route for the production of DHPS is sulfoglycolytic catabolism of sulfoquinovose (SQ) through the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas (sulfo-EMP) pathway. SQ is a sulfonated carbohydrate present in plant and cyanobacterial sulfolipids (sulfoquinovosyl diacylglyceride and its metabolites) and is biosynthesized globally at a rate of around 10 billion tons per annum. The final step in the bacterial sulfo-EMP pathway involves reduction of sulfolactaldehyde (SLA) to DHPS, catalyzed by an NADH-dependent SLA reductase. Based on conserved sequence motifs, we assign SLA reductase to the β-hydroxyacid dehydrogenase (β-HA..