YihQ is a sulfoquinovosidase that cleaves sulfoquinovosyl diacylglyceride sulfolipids.

Sulfoquinovose is produced by photosynthetic organisms at a rate of 10(10) tons per annum and is degraded by bacteria as a source of carbon and sulfur. We have identified Escherichia coli YihQ as the first dedicated sulfoquinovosidase and the gateway enzyme to sulfoglycolytic pathways. Structural and mutagenesis studies unveiled the sequence signatures for binding the distinguishing sulfonate residue and revealed that sulfoquinovoside degradation is widespread across the tree of life.