title: MARINE SULFUR CYCLE. Identification of the algal dimethyl sulfide-releasing enzyme: A missing link in the marine sulfur cycle.
abstract: Algal blooms produce large amounts of dimethyl sulfide (DMS), a volatile with a diverse signaling role in marine food webs that is emitted to the atmosphere, where it can affect cloud formation. The algal enzymes responsible for forming DMS from dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) remain unidentified despite their critical role in the global sulfur cycle. We identified and characterized Alma1, a DMSP lyase from the bloom-forming algae Emiliania huxleyi. Alma1 is a tetrameric, redox-sensitive enzyme of the aspartate racemase superfamily. Recombinant Alma1 exhibits biochemical features identical to the DMSP lyase in E. huxleyi, and DMS released by various E. huxleyi isolates correlates with their Alma1 levels. Sequence homology searches suggest that Alma1 represents a gene family present in major, globally distributed phytoplankton taxa and in other marine organisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Uria
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Alcolombri
authors.affiliation: Bioinformatics and Biological Computing Unit, Biological Services, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Shifra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ben-Dor
authors.affiliation: Nancy and Stephen Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Ester
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Feldmesser
authors.affiliation: Nancy and Stephen Grand Israel National Center for Personalized Medicine, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Yishai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Levin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. assaf.vardi@weizmann.ac.il dan.tawfik@weizmann.ac.il.
authors.forename: Dan S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Tawfik
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. assaf.vardi@weizmann.ac.il dan.tawfik@weizmann.ac.il.
authors.forename: Assaf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vardi
mesh_terms: D020418:Algal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001419:Bacteria / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D013437:Carbon-Sulfur Lyases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D058087:Haptophyta / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D010839:Phytoplankton / Q000201:enzymology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D013440:Sulfides / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020418:Algal Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D013440:Sulfides; D013437:Carbon-Sulfur Lyases; C400924:dimethylsulfoniopropionate lyase; C004784:dimethyl sulfide