Mechanism and dynamics of fatty acid photodecarboxylase

• DOI: 10.1126/science.abd5687
• Publication Date: 2021-04-09T17:59:01Z
• Authors: D. Sorigué; K. Hadjidemetriou; S. Blangy; G. Gotthard; A. Bonvalet; N. Coquelle; P. Samire; A. Aleksandrov; L. Antonucci; A. Benachir; S. Boutet; M. Byrdin; M. Cammarata; S. Carbajo; S. Cuiné; R. B. Doak; L. Foucar; A. Gorel; M. Grünbein; E. Hartmann; R. Hienerwadel; M. Hilpert; M. Kloos; T. J. Lane; B. Légeret; P. Legrand; Y. Li-Beisson; S. L. Y. Moulin; D. Nurizzo; G. Peltier; G. Schirò; R. L. Shoeman; M. Sliwa; X. Solinas; B. Zhuang; T. R. M. Barends; J.-P. Colletier; M. Joffre; A. Royant; C. Berthomieu; M. Weik; T. Domratcheva; K. Brettel; M. H. Vos; I. Schlichting; P. Arnoux; P. Müller; F. Beisson
• Keywords: Decarboxylation; Flavoprotein

Light makes light work of fatty acids Photosynthetic organisms are notable for their ability to capture energy and use it power biosynthesis. Some algae have gone a step beyond photosynthesis can initiate enzymatic photodecarboxylation acids, producing long-chain hydrocarbons. To understand this transformation, Sorigué et al. brought bear an array structural, computational, spectroscopic techniques fully characterized the catalytic cycle enzyme. These experiments consistent with mechanism starting electron transfer from acid photoexcited oxidized flavin cofactor. Decarboxylation yields alkyl radical, which is then reduced by back protonation rather than hydrogen atom transfer. The wealth experimental data explains how harness produce alka(e)nes provides appealing model system understanding enzyme-catalyzed photochemistry more generally. Science , issue p. eabd5687