GcoA-F169A converts syringol in vivo. (A) A pathway for in vivo syringol O-demethylation to pyrogallol and cleavage to 2-pyrone 6-carboxylate is proposed. (B) After 6 h, strains were analyzed for their ability to turn over syringol via 1H NMR spectroscopy. Syringol (green) is completely converted to pyrogallol (pink), 3MC (blue), or 2-pyrone 6-carboxylate (purple) in AM157. The WT GcoA enzyme in AM156 shows only small amounts of conversion. AM155, which does not express GcoA, shows no conversion.