A Sulfoglycolytic Entner-Doudoroff Pathway in Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii SRDI565
Jinling Li, Ruwan Epa, Nichollas E. Scott, Dominik Skoneczny, Mahima Sharma, Alexander Snow, James P. Lingford, Ethan D. Goddard‐Borger, G.J. Davies, Malcolm J. McConville, Spencer J. Williams
Abstract
Sulfonate sulfur is a major form of organic sulfur in soils but requires biomineralization before it can be utilized by plants. Very little is known about the biochemical processes used to mobilize sulfonate sulfur. We show that a rhizobial isolate from soil, Rhizobium leguminosarum SRDI565, possesses the ability to degrade the abundant phototroph-derived carbohydrate sulfonate SQ through a sulfoglycolytic Entner-Doudoroff pathway. Proteomics and metabolomics demonstrated the utilization of this pathway during growth on SQ and provided evidence for gluconeogenesis. Unexpectedly, off-cycle sulfoglycolytic species were also detected, pointing to the complexity of metabolic processes within cells under conditions of sulfoglycolysis. Thus, rhizobial metabolism of the abundant sulfosugar SQ may contribute to persistence of the bacteria in the soil and to mobilization of sulfur in the pedosphere.