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CENTRAL CARBON → SERINE / SULFUR CONNECTION → INDIVIDUAL PATHWAY

Cysteine biosynthesis

Follow the carbon skeleton from L-Serine to L-Cysteine.

What it needs

Serine, acetyl-CoA and a usable sulfur source (sulfide in this route).

What it supplies

L-Cysteine. This product can enter downstream cellular reactions; its synthesis depends on the precursor and helper supplies shown.

The pathway

Read from top to bottom. Select an enzyme box to jump to its reaction. Cosubstrates and selected coproducts appear in the account below.

Cysteine biosynthesisL-Serine to O-Acetyl-L-serine via Serine O-acetyltransferase; O-Acetyl-L-serine + sulfide to L-Cysteine via Cysteine synthaseL-Serine1. Serine O-acetyltransferaseAcetyl-CoA → CoARead reaction 1O-Acetyl-L-serine2. Cysteine synthasePLP-dependent; acetate releasedRead reaction 2L-Cysteine

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Reactions and enzymes

1 · Serine O-acetyltransferase

L-Serine → O-Acetyl-L-serine

Serine O-acetyltransferase · EC 2.3.1.30

Inputs, helpers or coproducts: Acetyl-CoA → CoA

2 · Cysteine synthase

O-Acetyl-L-serine + sulfide → L-Cysteine

Cysteine synthase · EC 2.5.1.47

Inputs, helpers or coproducts: PLP-dependent; acetate released

Connected pathways

Evidence and scope

O-acetylserine sulfhydrylation is a representative bacterial route. O-phosphoserine and transsulfuration alternatives occur; sulfide generation is upstream. This page explains selected documented biochemical reactions. It does not establish that every displayed enzyme occurs in Aquifex, that the pathway is universally essential, or that the book image records a complete organism. Gene symbols name common enzyme activities; organism-specific protein records require separate matching.

Original explanatory diagram and reaction account, based on the records below. Arrows show the biosynthetic reading direction; they do not claim that every reaction is irreversible. Selected protons, water and cofactors are omitted from the overview and are not implied absent.

Compare the related Aquifex annotation group →