Sn-glycerol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase

In enzymology, a sn-glycerol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction


 * sn-glycerol 1-phosphate + NAD(P)+ $$\rightleftharpoons$$ glycerone phosphate + NAD(P)H + H+

The 3 substrates of this enzyme are sn-glycerol 1-phosphate, NAD+, and NADP+, whereas its 4 products are glycerone phosphate, NADH, NADPH, and H+.

This enzyme belongs to the family of oxidoreductases, specifically those acting on the CH-OH group of donor with NAD+ or NADP+ as acceptor. The systematic name of this enzyme class is sn-glycerol-1-phosphate:NAD(P)+ 2-oxidoreductase. This enzyme is also called glycerol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase [NAD(P)+].

G-1-P dehydrogenase is responsible for the formation of sn-glycerol 1-phosphate, the backbone of the membrane phospholipids of Archaea. The gene encoding glycerol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase has been detected in all the archaeal species and has not been found in any bacterial or eukaryal species. sn-glycerol 1-phosphate produced by this enzyme is the most fundamental difference by which Archaea and bacteria are discriminated.

The enzyme sn-glycerol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase, usually having 394 amino acids, was also identified in bacteria. More than 5700 sequences have been published in GenBank (September 2023) in a different bacteria, including such well-known ones as Bacillus subtilis (GenBank: AOR99168.1).