Thank you Sven!☺️

This work was in collaboration with Raquel Bernardino from Inês Pereira's group 🎉

Unexpectedly, quinol oxidation occurs at DsrP rather than DsrM in the DsrMKJOP complex, while DsrM contains a structural quinone-binding site.

Our structures capture multiple functional states and show how the flexible DsrC arm reaches into DsrK to position a reactive sulfur intermediate for reduction at an unusual non-cubane [4Fe–4S] cluster.

The structures explain how sulfide production is coupled to quinol oxidation and proton release, linking sulfur metabolism directly to cellular energy conservation. Further, we reveal how sulfate-reducing organisms activate a remarkably stable sulfur substrate and convert it into sulfide.

The Dsr complex is essential for the sulfate reducers but how it is linked to cell growth and how it functions was unclear. We were able to resolve the structure of the entire complex (DsrMKJOP) to high resolution giving the following insights:

Sulfate-reducing microbes are involved in climate change due to their crucial roles in driving the global sulfur and carbon biogeochemical cycles and impacting methane production and uptake. Additionally, the pathway is important for human health as it's associated to IBD and colorectal cancer 🌍🦠