Sulfite, produced for instance during amino acid metabolism, is a very reactive and toxic compound. Various detoxification mechanisms exist, but sulfite oxidoreductases (SORs) are one of the major actors in sulfite remediation in bacteria and animals. Here we describe the existence of an operon in the extreme thermophilic bacterium Thermus thermophilus HB8 encoding both a SOR and a diheme c-typ...

Methods have been devised to examine the spectral properties and state of reduction of the pterin ring of molybdopterin (MPT) in milk xanthine oxidase and the Mo-containing domain of rat liver sulfite oxidase. The absorption spectrum of the native pterin was visualized by difference spectroscopy of each protein, denatured anaerobically in 6 M guanidine hydrochloride (GdnHCl), versus a sample co...

The utilization of organosulfonates as carbon sources by aerobic or nitrate-reducing bacteria usually involves a measurable, uncharacterized sulfite dehydrogenase. This is tacitly assumed to be sulfite : ferricytochrome-c oxidoreductase [EC 1.8.2.1], despite negligible interaction with (eukaryotic) cytochrome c: the enzyme is assayed at high specific activity with ferricyanide as electron accep...

Sulfite oxidase (SO) is a molybdenum-cofactor-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of sulfite to sulfate, the final step in the catabolism of the sulfur-containing amino acids, cysteine and methionine. The catalytic mechanism of vertebrate SO involves intramolecular electron transfer (IET) from molybdenum to the integral b-type heme of SO and then to exogenous cytochrome c. However, th...

Plant sulfite reductase (SiR; Enzyme Commission 1.8.7.1) catalyzes the reduction of sulfite to sulfide in the reductive sulfate assimilation pathway. Comparison of SiR expression in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum ‘Rheinlands Ruhm’) and Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) plants revealed that SiR is expressed in a different tissue-dependent manner that likely reflects dissimilarity in sulfur metabo...

A molybdenum cofactor which is capable of reconstituting demolybdosulfite oxidase purified from livers of tungstentreated rats has been identified in rat liver and various organisms. Reconstitution with the rat liver cofactor is directly proportional to cofactor and demolybdoenzyme concentrations and proceeds most efficiently in 0.01 M potassium phosphate buffer, pH 7.4. The activation process ...

A molybdenum cofactor which is capable of reconstituting demolybdosulfite oxidase purified from livers of tungstentreated rats has been identified in rat liver and various organisms. Reconstitution with the rat liver cofactor is directly proportional to cofactor and demolybdoenzyme concentrations and proceeds most efficiently in 0.01 M potassium phosphate buffer, pH 7.4. The activation process ...

5-Ethynyluracil is a time-dependent and tight binding inhibitor of xanthine oxidase. The maximal value of the first-order rate constant for onset of inhibition is 0.01 s-1, and the concentration of 5-ethynyluracil which gives one-half of this value is 190 microM. Because the t1/2 for formation of active enzyme from inhibited enzyme is greater than 30 h in the absence of NADH, inhibition of xant...

In humans, sulfite is generated endogenously by the metabolism of sulfur containing amino acids such as methionine and cysteine. Sulfite is also formed from exposure to sulfur dioxide, one of the major environmental pollutants. Sulfite is used as an antioxidant and preservative in dried fruits, vegetables, and beverages such as wine. Sulfite is also used as a stabilizer in many drugs. Sulfite t...