Consumption of carbonyl sulphide (COS) by higher plant carbonic anhydrase (CA)

Carbonic anhydrase (CA), isolated from pea leaves, was found to consume carbonyl sulphide (COS), a climatic relevant trace gas in the atmosphere. The isolated enzyme, free of other carboxylases, showed a very high affinity towards this substrate. The experiments confirm that CA is the key enzyme for the consumption of COS in higher plants. Furthermore, the identification of this enzyme furthers our understanding of additional sinks for COS, which are needed to understand the balance of known global sources.