Macronutrient: Sulfur

I. Function of Sulfur
Sulfur is a constituent of the amino acids (methionine, cystine, and cysteine), vitamins (biotin, thiamine, B1), and many protein enzymes that regulate photosynthesis; helps plants metabolize nitrogen. plays structural and regulatory roles e.g. disulfide bridge in regulatory protein thioredoxin which reduced form (SH HS) of thioredoxin reduces the critical disulfide bond (converts SS to SH HS) of a target enzyme and thereby leads to activation of that enzyme. Enzymes that contain disulfide group for regulation of calvin cycle: 1.NADP:glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 2. Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase 3. Sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase 4. Ribulose-5-phosphate kinase

 Sulfur participates in electron transport through ironsulfur clusters e.g. photosystem I in light rxn: A series of membrane-bound ironsulfur proteins (FeSX, FeSA, and FeSB) transfers electrons to soluble ferredoxin (Fd) Constituent of the catalytic sites in several enzymes and coenzymes, such as urease (urea breakdown to produce CO2 and Ammonia) and coenzyme A

II. Cycle of Sulfur

Major reservoirs for sulfur are the atmosphere and rock. In the soil, sulfur exists as mineral sulfates (such as calcium sulfate, magnesium sulfate and potassium sulfate), as sulfide gas and as elemental sulfur. Bacteria are crucial to sulfur cycling. Manure and biosolids contain sulphur. Manure contains sulphur in both organic and inorganic forms. A portion of the sulphur in manure will be readily available as sulphate (SO42). The other portion that exists as organic sulphur must be converted (mineralized) to sulphate by soil microorganisms before it can be utilized by plants. Most of the sulphur in the soil is in the organic matter.

III. Mobility of sulfur

SO42- = absorbed form in plants Sources: In soil organic sulfur- potential source of sulfate (which some may absorb directly while some is converted to sulfate) In atmosphere Sulfur dioxide, SO2 -prolonged exposure (more than 8 hours) to high atmospheric concentrations (greater than 0.3 ppm) of SO2 causes extensive tissue damage because of the formation of sulfuric acid. Sulfate assimilation- requires the reduction of sulfate to cysteine - Occurs mostly in leaves and is exported in leaves via the phloem to sites of protein synthesis (shoot and rootapices, and fruits) mainly as glutathione Glutathione - acts as a signal that coordinates the absorption of sulfate by the roots and the assimilation of sulfate by the shoot

 Uptake occurs principally during daytime and is slight at night, because uptake is associated to large daytime transpiration stream. On a cloudy day, uptake is reduced.

IV. Physiological activity of Sulfur

A. As constituent of amino acids and proteins Reduction of sulfate - to form sulfur-containing organic compounds, cysteine Methionine- synthesized from cysteine in plastids After cysteine and methionine are synthesized, sulfur can be incorporated into proteins and a variety of other compounds, such as: a. acetyl-CoA (coenzyme) b. S-adenosylmethionine-important in the synthesis of ethylene and in reactions involving the transfer of methyl groups, e.g. lignin synthesis

B. As having structural and regulatory role e.g.disulfide bridge in regulatory protein thioredoxin which reduced form (SH HS) of thioredoxin reduces the critical disulfide bond (converts SS to SH HS) of a target enzyme and thereby leads to activation of that enzyme.

Reference
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ie50491 a023 Taiz and Zieger book