A Bacterial Pathway for Homotaurine Catabolism via Sulfopropanoate

Luise Pallasdies; Helen Barber; Mihwa Lee; Laura Burchill; Ho NN Ho; Adam WE Stewart; Artur Nastasovici; Hanna Sanne-Wander; Dilushini T Rathnayake; Vinzenz Hofferek; Leila Jebeli; Taylor A McDaniels; Malcolm J McConville; Robert A Field; Sacha Pidot; Nichollas E Scott; Yi Jin; Spencer J Williams

Journal article

A Bacterial Pathway for Homotaurine Catabolism via Sulfopropanoate

Luise Pallasdies, Helen Barber, Mihwa Lee, Laura Burchill, Ho NN Ho, Adam WE Stewart, Artur Nastasovici, Hanna Sanne-Wander, Dilushini T Rathnayake, Vinzenz Hofferek, Leila Jebeli, Taylor A McDaniels, Malcolm J McConville, Robert A Field, Sacha Pidot, Nichollas E Scott, Yi Jin, Spencer J Williams

Journal of the American Chemical Society | American Chemical Society (ACS) | Published : 2026

DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6c10662

Abstract

Abstract Small aminoorganosulfonates are reservoirs of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur in marine and host-associated ecosystems. Homotaurine, a C3-aminoorganosulfonate produced by marine algae and present in algal-derived foods, is comparatively well documented, but its complete microbial catabolism has remained unresolved. Here we identify a complete bacterial pathway for homotaurine catabolism in Caballeronia jiangsuensis strain McCoy, isolated by metabolic enrichment from soil by growth on homotaurine. Growth, proteomic, metabolomic, biochemical, structural, and heterologous-expression analyses show that homotaurine is imported and oxidatively deaminated to sulfopropanoate,..

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