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. 2018 Jan 29;8:1776. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-19920-y

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Two step cysteine biosynthesis pathway. The first step of cysteine synthesis is catalyzed by serine acetyltransferase, produced by the gene cysE. Serine acetyltransferase converts serine into O-acetylserine. From this step, O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase, produced by gene cysK, converts the intermediate into cysteine. O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase function can also be provided by the homologous cysM gene. Thus, cysteine production in bacteria requires either cysE and cysK or cysE and cysM. In addition, genes similar to cysE, cysK, and cysM can be found within certain archaeal genomes12.