Sulfoglycolysis

[1][2] Sulfoglycolysis pathways occur in a wide variety of organisms, and enable key steps in the degradation of sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerol (SQDG), a sulfolipid found in plants and cyanobacteria into sulfite and sulfate.

Sulfoglycolysis converts sulfoquinovose (C6H12O8S−) into various smaller metabolizable carbon fragments such as pyruvate and dihydroxyacetone phosphate that enter central metabolism.

The free energy is used to form the high-energy molecules ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and NADH (reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide).

These include: In all pathways, energy is formed by breakdown of the carbon-rich fragments in later stages through the 'pay-off' phase of glycolysis through substrate-level phosphorylation to produce ATP and NADH.

[10] The second class of sulfoquinovosidases are NAD+-dependent enzymes (which belong to CAZy family GH188) that use an oxidoreductive mechanism to cleave both α- and β-glycosides of sulfoquinovose.

SQ, SQGro and the transiently formed intermediate sulforhamnose (but not lactose, glucose or galactose) function as derepressors of CsqR.