title: The physical biochemistry and molecular genetics of sulfate activation.
abstract: This article is an overview of current research in the area of sulfate activation. Emphasis is placed on presenting unresolved issues in an appropriate context for critical evaluation by the reader. The energetics of sulfate activation is reevaluated in light of recent findings that demonstrate that the synthesis of activated sulfate is thermodynamically driven by GTP hydrolysis. The structural and functional bases of this GTPase activation are discussed in detail. The bonding and hydrolysis of the high-energy, phosphoric-sulfuric acid anhydride bond of activated sulfate are presented along with an analysis of the importance of the divalent cation and pyrophosphate protonation in the equilibria governing activated sulfate formation. The molecular genetics of sulfate assimilation in prokaryotes is reviewed with an emphasis on the regulation of the pathway. Recent discoveries connecting sulfate activation to plant/microbe symbiogenesis are presented, as are several examples of the importance of activated sulfate in human metabolism and disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461.
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Leyh
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases / Q000378:metabolism*; D006160:Guanosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010724:Phosphoadenosine Phosphosulfate / Q000378:metabolism; D017853:Phosphotransferases (Alcohol Group Acceptor) / Q000378:metabolism; D011387:Prokaryotic Cells; D013430:Sulfate Adenylyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D013431:Sulfates / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D013431:Sulfates; D010724:Phosphoadenosine Phosphosulfate; D006160:Guanosine Triphosphate; D017853:Phosphotransferases (Alcohol Group Acceptor); C019617:adenylylsulfate kinase; D013430:Sulfate Adenylyltransferase; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases