Decay of the Cys-quinonoid intermediate is accelerated by the presence of FXN and the mobile S-transfer loop cysteine. The different complexes (100 μM) were combined with 10 mM l-cysteine, and the absorbance at 508 nm was followed as a function of time. Stopped-flow kinetic traces are displayed for the Cys-quinonoid intermediate of the SDAecU (red) and SDAecUF (blue) complexes (A), SDAecU (red) and SDAecUCec (cyan) complexes (B), SDAecUF (blue) and SC381ADAecUF (pink) complexes (D), and IscS (green) and IscSC328A (orange) variants (E). A comparison of the Cys-quinonoid decay rates for complexes (using the same color scheme) for A and B (C) and D and E (F) is shown. Note that the SC381ADAecUF and IscSC328A variants have extremely slow decay kinetics. All kinetic traces are an average of 3 independent experiments, and the rates for the development and decay of the Cys-quinonoid intermediate were obtained by nonlinear regression analysis (solid lines).