Determination of coenzyme A levels in Pyrococcus furiosus and other Archaea: implications for a general role for coenzyme A in thermophiles

Physiologically significant levels of intracellular coenzyme A were identified in Pyrococcus furiosus , Thermococcus litoralis , and Sulfolobus solfataricus , suggesting a role for CoA as an important low molecular mass thiol in the thermophilic Archaea. In P. furiosus , cells grown in the presence of sulfur showed significantly higher levels of oxidized CoA compared with those grown in the absence of S 0 . T. litoralis showed strikingly similar CoA levels, although with low disulfide levels in both the presence and absence of S 0 . S. solfataricus showed similarly high levels of CoA thiol, with correspondingly low levels of the CoA disulfide. These results are consistent with the identification of a coenzyme A disulfide reductase (CoADR) in P. furiosus and horikoshii as well as the presence of CoADR homologues in the genomes of S. solfataricus and T. kodakaraensis .