Epidithiol Formation by an Unprecedented Twin Carbon–Sulfur Lyase in the Gliotoxin Pathway

Two in one go: The elucidation of a key step in the biosynthesis of gliotoxin, the infamous virulence factor of the human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus, provides insight into the formation of an epidithiol. Isolation of a bis(cysteine) S-conjugate from a ΔgliI mutant and in vitro studies show that GliI concomitantly cleaves two CS bonds, along with the formation of ammonia and pyruvate (see scheme).