Bacterial CS2 hydrolases from Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans strains are homologous to the archaeal catenane CS2 hydrolase.

Carbon disulfide (CS(2)) and carbonyl sulfide (COS) are important in the global sulfur cycle, and CS(2) is used as a solvent in the viscose industry. These compounds can be converted by sulfur-oxidizing bacteria, such as Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans species, to carbon dioxide (CO(2)) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a property used in industrial biofiltration of CS(2)-polluted airstreams. We report on the mechanism of bacterial CS(2) conversion in the extremely acidophilic A. thiooxidans strains S1p and G8. The bacterial CS(2) hydrolases were highly abundant. They were purified and found to be homologous to the only other described (archaeal) CS(2) hydrolase from Acidianus strain A1-3, which forms a catenane of two interlocked rings. The enzymes cluster in a group of β-carbonic anhydrase (β-CA) homologues that may comprise a subclass of CS(2) hydrolases within the β-CA family. Unlike CAs, the CS(2) hydrolases did not hydrate CO(2) but converted CS(2) and COS with H(2)O to H(2)S and CO(2). The CS(2) hydrolases of A. thiooxidans strains G8, 2Bp, Sts 4-3, and BBW1, like the CS(2) hydrolase of Acidianus strain A1-3, exist as both octamers and hexadecamers in solution. The CS(2) hydrolase of A. thiooxidans strain S1p forms only octamers. Structure models of the A. thiooxidans CS(2) hydrolases based on the structure of Acidianus strain A1-3 CS(2) hydrolase suggest that the A. thiooxidans strain G8 CS(2) hydrolase may also form a catenane. In the A. thiooxidans strain S1p enzyme, two insertions (positions 26 and 27 [PD] and positions 56 to 61 [TPAGGG]) and a nine-amino-acid-longer C-terminal tail may prevent catenane formation.