Carbon Oxysulfide Is an Inhibitor of Both CO(2) and HCO(3) Uptake in the Cyanobacterium Synechococcus PCC7942.

Carbon oxysulfide (COS) was reinvestigated as an inhibitor of active inorganic carbon transport in cells of Synechococcus PCC7942 adapted to growth at low inorganic carbon. COS inhibited both CO(2) and HCO(3) (-) transport processes in a reversible (in the short term) and mixed competitive manner. The inhibition of COS was established using both silicone oil centrifugation experiments and O(2)-evolution studies. The K(i) for COS inhibition was 29 micromolar for CO(2) transport and 110 micromolar for HCO(3) (-) transport. These results support a model of inorganic carbon transport with a central CO(2) pump and an inducible HCO(3) (-) utilizing accessory protein which supplies CO(2) to the primary pump.