Role of APS reductase in biogeochemical sulfur isotope fractionation

Min Sub Sim (), Hideaki Ogata, Wolfgang Lubitz, Jess F. Adkins, Alex L. Sessions, Victoria J. Orphan and Shawn E. McGlynn ()
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Min Sub Sim: School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University
Hideaki Ogata: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion
Wolfgang Lubitz: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion
Jess F. Adkins: Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology
Alex L. Sessions: Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology
Victoria J. Orphan: Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology
Shawn E. McGlynn: Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Sulfur isotope fractionation resulting from microbial sulfate reduction (MSR) provides some of the earliest evidence of life, and secular variations in fractionation values reflect changes in biogeochemical cycles. Here we determine the sulfur isotope effect of the enzyme adenosine phosphosulfate reductase (Apr), which is present in all known organisms conducting MSR and catalyzes the first reductive step in the pathway and reinterpret the sedimentary sulfur isotope record over geological time. Small fractionations may be attributed to low sulfate concentrations and/or high respiration rates, whereas fractionations greater than that of Apr require a low chemical potential at that metabolic step. Since Archean sediments lack fractionation exceeding the Apr value of 20‰, they are indicative of sulfate reducers having had access to ample electron donors to drive their metabolisms. Large fractionations in post-Archean sediments are congruent with a decline of favorable electron donors as aerobic and other high potential metabolic competitors evolved.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07878-4

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