The stereospecificity of the ferrous-ion-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase from Zymomonas mobilis.

Alcohol dehydrogenase from Zymomonas mobilis has been found to transfer the pro-R hydrogen of NADH to acetaldehyde. This is the first report of the stereospecificity of a dehydrogenase in the mechanistic and structural class of Fe2+-dependent alcohol dehydrogenases and offers an opportunity to expand mechanistic hypotheses relating stereospecificity, reaction mechanism and reaction thermodynamics in dehydrogenases.