Determination of the metabolic origin of the sulfur atom in thiamin of Escherichia coli by mass spectrometry.

In this study cells were grown in 34S-sulfate or L-[sulfane-34S]thiocystine, and the effects of unlabeled methionine and cystine on incorporation of sulfur into methionine, cystine and thiamin were determined. Unlabeled methionine effectively suppresses the incorporation of 34S into methionine but not into cysteine or thiamin. In contrast, cystine blocks incorporation of 34S only to approximately the relative ratio of 32S to 34S indicating, that cysteine is closely related to the origin of the sulfur in thiamin, and therefore the sulfane sulfur of thiocystine is also an effective source of the thiamin sulfur.