Institute for Plant Sciences, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), University of Cologne, Zülpicher Str. 47b, D-50674 Cologne, Germany.
Institute of Molecular Photosynthesis, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
J Exp Bot. 2024 Aug 28;75(16):4697-4711. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erae252.
Sulfur (S) is an essential element for life on Earth. Plants are able to take up and utilize sulfate (SO42-), the most oxidized inorganic form of S compounds on Earth, through the reductive S assimilatory pathway that couples with photosynthetic energy conversion. Organic S compounds are subsequently synthesized in plants and made accessible to animals, primarily as the amino acid methionine. Thus, plant S metabolism clearly has nutritional importance in the global food chain. S metabolites may be part of redox regulation and drivers of essential metabolic pathways as cofactors and prosthetic groups, such as Fe-S centers, CoA, thiamine, and lipoic acid. The evolution of the S metabolic pathways and enzymes reflects the critical importance of functional innovation and diversifications. Here we review the major evolutionary alterations that took place in S metabolism across different scales and outline research directions that may take advantage of understanding the evolutionary adaptations.
硫（S）是地球上生命的必需元素。植物能够通过与光合作用能量转换偶联的还原性 S 同化途径，吸收和利用地球上最氧化的无机 S 化合物硫酸盐（SO42-）。随后，植物中合成有机 S 化合物，并将其提供给动物，主要以氨基酸蛋氨酸的形式。因此，植物 S 代谢在全球食物链中显然具有营养重要性。S 代谢物可能是氧化还原调节的一部分，并且作为辅助因子和辅基（如 Fe-S 中心、CoA、硫胺素和硫辛酸）驱动必需代谢途径。S 代谢途径和酶的进化反映了功能创新和多样化的至关重要性。在这里，我们回顾了不同尺度上 S 代谢发生的主要进化改变，并概述了可能利用对进化适应的理解来利用的研究方向。
