Exploring New Pathways of Sulfoquinovose degradation in the biosphere

我们都需要硫。硫是所有生物的重要常量营养素。它就在我们身边，我们每天消耗大约0.2克，但它是如何代谢的呢？细菌如何将绿叶植物中数十亿吨的硫转化为含硫脂？巯基脂的研究仍处于起步阶段，每年都有新的途径被报道。鉴于其不同寻常的化学结构，生物体需要特定的运输和催化机制来利用这种糖作为能量来源。这笔拨款将研究生物地球化学硫循环中一种主要有机硫资源的生物降解和循环，这种资源反映了所有生物硫的50%，但我们对它知之甚少。因此，这种生物硫储存库（磺喹诺糖SQ）的代谢比最初设想的要复杂和多样得多，然而，尽管SQ的数量巨大，具有重要的基础意义，但它仍然是一个知之甚少的领域。因此，我们寻求在我们大量的初步数据的基础上，剖析这些新的途径，为其他人提供用于途径发现的工具，并在这样做的过程中丰富我们对生物硫的基本来源的理解。这项工作具有广泛的影响，从植物科学到微生物生态学，所有这些都是由酶和蛋白质功能的结构和生化理解驱动的。

We all need sulfur. Sulfur is an important macronutrient for all living organisms. It is all around us, we consume about 0.2g a day, but how is it metabolised? How do bacteria convert the billions of tonnes of sulphur found in green leafy plants in the form of sulfur-containing lipids? Sulfoglycolipid study is still in its infancy, with novel pathways reported each year. Given its unusual chemical structure, organisms recruit specific transport and catalytic machinery to utilise this sulfosugar as energy source. This grant will study biodegradation and circulation of a major organosulfur resource within the biogeochemical sulfur cycle - one that reflects 50% of all biological sulfur yet very little is known about. The metabolism of this reservoir of biological sulfur - Sulfoquinovose SQ - is therefore far more complex and diverse than originally envisaged, yet, despite the massive quantity and fundamental importance of SQ, it remains a poorly understood area. We therefore seek to build upon our substantial preliminary data, to dissect these new pathways, produce tools for others to use for pathway discovery, and in doing so enrich our understanding of this fundamental source of biological sulfur. The work has widespread impact, from plant science through microbial ecology, all driven by structural and biochemical understanding of enzyme and protein function.