InterPro domain: IPR006281

This set of sequences describe the alpha subunit of a family of known and putative heterotetrameric sarcosine oxidases. Five operons of such oxidases are found in Rhizobium loti (Mesorhizobium loti) and three in Agrobacterium tumefaciens, a high enough copy number to suggest that not all members share the same function. Sarcosine oxidase catalyzes the oxidative demethylation of sarcosine to glycine. The reaction converts tetrahydrofolate to 5,10-methylene-tetrahydrofolate [ 1 ].

Bacterial sarcosine oxidases have been isolated from over a dozen different organisms and fall into two major classes (1) monomeric form that contains only covalent flavin and (2) heterotetrameric (alpha, beta, gamma, delta) form that contain a covalent and noncovalent flavin, this entry represents the monomeric form.

1. Bacterial sarcosine oxidase: comparison of two multisubunit enzymes containing both covalent and noncovalent flavin. Biochemistry 25, 6061-9