Evidence for corrin biosynthesis in the last universal common ancestor.

ABSTRACT: Corrinoids are cobalt-containing tetrapyrroles. They include adenosylcobalamin (vitamin B₁₂) and cobamides that function as cofactors and coenzymes for methyl transfer, radical-dependent and redox reactions. Though cobamides are the most complex cofactors in nature, they are essential in the acetyl-CoA pathway, thought to be the most ancient CO₂-fixation pathway, where they perform a pterin-to-cobalt-to-nickel methyl transfer reaction catalyzed by the corrinoid iron-sulphur protein (CoFeS). CoFeS occurs in H₂-dependent archaeal methanogens, the oldest microbial lineage by measure of physiology and carbon isotope data, dating corrinoids to ca. 3.5 billion years. However, CoFeS and cobamides are also essential in the acetyl-CoA pathway of H₂-depend

SUBMITTER: Modjewski LD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7617358 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature