Cysteine Oxidation Reactions Catalyzed by a Mononuclear Non-heme Iron Enzyme (OvoA) in Ovothiol Biosynthesis

OvoA in ovothiol biosynthesis is a mononuclear non-heme iron enzyme catalyzing the oxidative coupling between histidine and cysteine. It can also catalyze the oxidative coupling between hercynine and cysteine, yet with a different regio-selectivity. Due to the potential application of this reaction for industrial ergothioneine production, in this study, we systematically characterized OvoA by a combination of three different assays. Our studies revealed that OvoA can also catalyze the oxidation of cysteine to either cysteine sulfinic acid or cystine. Remarkably, these OvoA-catalyzed reactions can be systematically modulated by a slight modification of one of its substrates, histidine.