The UDP-sulfoquinovose synthase Agl3 from Sulfolobus acidocaldarius converts UDP-d-glucose and sulfite to UDP-sulfoquinovose, the activated form of sulfoquinovose required for its incorporation into glycoconjugates. Based on the amino acid sequence, Agl3 belongs to the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase enzyme superfamily, together with SQD1 from Arabidopsis thaliana, the only UDP-sulfoquinovose synthase with known crystal structure. By comparison of sequence and structure of Agl3 and SQD1, putative catalytic amino acids of Agl3 were selected for mutational analysis. The obtained data suggest for Agl3 a modified dehydratase reaction mechanism. We propose that in vitro biosynthesis of UDP-sulfoquinovose occurs through an NAD⁺-dependent oxidation/dehydration/enolization/sulfite addition process. In the absence of a sulfur donor, UDP-d-glucose is converted via UDP-4-keto-d-glucose to UDP-d-glucose-5,6-ene, the structure of which was determined by ¹H and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy. During the redox reaction the cofactor remains tightly bound to Agl3 and participates in the reaction in a concentration-dependent manner. For the first time, the rapid initial electron transfer between UDP-d-glucose and NAD⁺ could be monitored in a UDP-sulfoquinovose synthase. Deuterium labeling confirmed that dehydration of UDP-d-glucose occurs only from the enol form of UDP-4-keto-glucose. The obtained functional data are compared with those from other UDP-sulfoquinovose synthases. A divergent evolution of Agl3 from S.acidocaldarius is suggested.

Recently, the Surface (S)-layer glycoprotein of the thermoacidophilic crenarchaeote Sulfolobus acidocaldarius was found to be N-glycosylated with a heterogeneous family of glycans, with the largest having a composition Glc 1Man 2GlcNAc 2 plus 6-sulfoquinovose. However, genetic analyses of genes involved in the N-glycosylation process in Crenarchaeota were missing so far. In this study we identify a gene cluster involved in the biosynthesis of sulfoquinovose and important for the assembly of the S-layer N-glycans. A successful markerless in-frame deletion of agl3 resulted in a decreased molecular mass of the S-layer glycoprotein SlaA and the flagellin FlaB, indicating a change in the N-glycan composition. Analyses with nanoLC ES-MS/MS confirmed the presence of only a reduced trisaccharide structure composed of Man 1GlcNAc 2, missing the sulfoquinovose, a mannose and glucose. Biochemical studies of the recombinant Agl3 confirmed the proposed function as a UDP-sulfoquinovose synthase. Furthermore, S.acidocaldarius cells lacking agl3 had a significantly lower growth rate at elevated salt concentrations compared with the background strain, underlining the importance of the N-glycosylation to maintain an intact and stable cell envelope, to enable the survival of S.acidocaldarius in its extreme environment.