dimethyl sulfoxide reductase complex

GO:0009390 · Energy complex · Multiprotein complex · Proposed

A membrane-bound anaerobic dimethyl sulfoxide reductase complex that catalyzes the reduction of dimethyl sulfoxide to dimethyl sulfide during respiratory electron transport. [GO:0009390]

Synonyms: dimethyl sulphoxide reductase complex; DMSO reductase complex

UniProt location names: UniProt Consortium, CC BY 4.0. Reference label and route sources.

Components

Component	Type	Part of / acts on	Grounding	Genes	Essential	Role
anaerobic dimethyl sulfoxide reductase subunit A	Protein	part of	`InterPro:IPR011888`	dmsA	ESSENTIAL	Mo-bisMGD catalytic subunit of the DmsABC reductase complex. `InterPro:IPR011888` InterPro IPR011888 is the anaerobic dimethyl sulphoxide reductase subunit A family. `ComplexPortal:CPX-320` Complex Portal CPX-320 curates P18775/DmsA as an E. coli K-12 DMSO reductase complex participant.
dimethylsulphoxide reductase chain B	Protein	part of	`InterPro:IPR014297`	dmsB	ESSENTIAL	Iron-sulfur electron-transfer subunit of the DmsABC reductase complex. `InterPro:IPR014297` InterPro IPR014297 is the dimethylsulphoxide reductase chain B family. `ComplexPortal:CPX-320` Complex Portal CPX-320 curates P18776/DmsB as an E. coli K-12 DMSO reductase complex participant.
DMSO reductase anchor subunit	Protein	part of	`InterPro:IPR007059`	dmsC	ESSENTIAL	Membrane anchor subunit of the DmsABC reductase complex. `InterPro:IPR007059` InterPro IPR007059 is the DMSO reductase anchor subunit DmsC family. `ComplexPortal:CPX-320` Complex Portal CPX-320 curates P18777/DmsC as an E. coli K-12 DMSO reductase complex participant.

Organism-specific protein examples

Named proteins in which each component's role was established, with the organism the evidence comes from. The component above is the taxon-agnostic family; these are the specific entries behind it.

anaerobic dimethyl sulfoxide reductase subunit A

Accession	Protein	Gene	Organism	Entry
`UniProtKB:P18775`	Dimethyl sulfoxide reductase DmsA	dmsA	Escherichia coli K-12 (`NCBITaxon:83333`)	REVIEWED
Role and evidence (1 reference) `UniProtKB:P18775` Reviewed Swiss-Prot entry DMSA_ECOLI is the E. coli K-12 DmsA chain and cross-references GO:0009390 and ComplexPortal:CPX-320.

dimethylsulphoxide reductase chain B

Accession	Protein	Gene	Organism	Entry
`UniProtKB:P18776`	Anaerobic dimethyl sulfoxide reductase chain B	dmsB	Escherichia coli K-12 (`NCBITaxon:83333`)	REVIEWED
Role and evidence (1 reference) `UniProtKB:P18776` Reviewed Swiss-Prot entry DMSB_ECOLI is the E. coli K-12 DmsB chain and cross-references GO:0009390 and ComplexPortal:CPX-320.

DMSO reductase anchor subunit

Accession	Protein	Gene	Organism	Entry
`UniProtKB:P18777`	Anaerobic dimethyl sulfoxide reductase chain C	dmsC	Escherichia coli K-12 (`NCBITaxon:83333`)	REVIEWED
Role and evidence (1 reference) `UniProtKB:P18777` Reviewed Swiss-Prot entry DMSC_ECOLI is the E. coli K-12 DmsC chain and cross-references GO:0009390 and ComplexPortal:CPX-320.

Source composition assertions

DmaABC DMSO reductase complex (ComplexPortal:CPX-320)

Escherichia coli (strain K12) (NCBITaxon:83333) · Heterotrimer · ECO:0000353 · retrieved 2026-10-02

Participant	Source type	Source name	Stoichiometry
`UniProtKB:P18776` — Anaerobic dimethyl sulfoxide reductase chain B	protein	dmsB	1
`CHEBI:60539` — Mo(=O)-bis(molybdopterin guanine dinucleotide)(4-)	small molecule		1
`UniProtKB:P18777` — Anaerobic dimethyl sulfoxide reductase chain C	protein	dmsC	1
`CHEBI:49883` — tetra-mu(3)-sulfido-tetrairon (IRON/SULFUR CLUSTER)	small molecule		1
`UniProtKB:P18775` — Dimethyl sulfoxide reductase DmsA	protein	dmsA	1

Curator-scoped import: E. coli K-12 CPX-320 composition for the GO:0009390 dimethyl sulfoxide reductase complex. Source evidence: physical interaction evidence. The accession was resolved through the Complex Portal accession endpoint; no equivalence xref was inferred.

Canonical examples

NCBITaxon:83333 Escherichia coli K-12 — Escherichia coli K-12 source of the CPX-320 heterotrimeric DmsABC composition with DmsA, DmsB, DmsC, a Mo-bisMGD cofactor, and a 4Fe-4S cluster. [ComplexPortal:CPX-320]

Functions

dimethyl sulfoxide reductase activity GO:0009389 — The DmsABC complex catalyzes the respiratory redox conversion between dimethyl sulfoxide and dimethyl sulfide.
- GO:0009389 GO:0009389 defines dimethyl sulfoxide reductase activity as the dimethyl sulfide, menaquinone, water to dimethyl sulfoxide and menaquinol reaction.
- PMID:3280546 Weiner et al. 1988 purified E. coli DMSO reductase as an iron-sulfur molybdoenzyme with broad substrate specificity.

Mechanism graphs

DmsABC enables DMSO reduction (FUNCTION)

The DmsABC heterotrimeric complex carries out dimethyl sulfoxide reductase activity.

Subject	Predicate	Object	Evidence
anaerobic dimethyl sulfoxide reductase subunit A	contributes to	dimethyl sulfoxide reductase complex	`ComplexPortal:CPX-320` CPX-320 curates P18775/DmsA in the E. coli K-12 DMSO reductase complex.
dimethylsulphoxide reductase chain B	contributes to	dimethyl sulfoxide reductase complex	`ComplexPortal:CPX-320` CPX-320 curates P18776/DmsB in the E. coli K-12 DMSO reductase complex.
DMSO reductase anchor subunit	contributes to	dimethyl sulfoxide reductase complex	`ComplexPortal:CPX-320` CPX-320 curates P18777/DmsC in the E. coli K-12 DMSO reductase complex.
dimethyl sulfoxide reductase complex	enables	dimethyl sulfoxide reductase activity	`GO:0009390` GO:0009390 defines the DMSO reductase complex by its dimethyl sulfoxide to dimethyl sulfide chemistry.

Evidence

GO:0009390 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for the dimethyl sulfoxide reductase complex.
GO:0032991 Gene Ontology parent cellular-component term for protein-containing complexes.
GO:0009389 Gene Ontology molecular-function term for dimethyl sulfoxide reductase activity.
InterPro:IPR011888 InterPro family for anaerobic DMSO reductase subunit A proteins.
InterPro:IPR014297 InterPro family for DMSO reductase chain B proteins.
InterPro:IPR007059 InterPro family for DMSO reductase anchor subunits.
UniProtKB:P18775 Reviewed E. coli K-12 DmsA UniProtKB entry.
UniProtKB:P18776 Reviewed E. coli K-12 DmsB UniProtKB entry.
UniProtKB:P18777 Reviewed E. coli K-12 DmsC UniProtKB entry.
ComplexPortal:CPX-320 Complex Portal entry for the E. coli K-12 DMSO reductase complex.
CHEBI:49883 ChEBI identifier for the 4Fe-4S cluster curated in CPX-320.
CHEBI:60539 ChEBI identifier for the Mo-bis(molybdopterin guanine dinucleotide) cofactor curated in CPX-320.
PMID:21357619 Cheng et al. 2011, Correct assembly of iron-sulfur cluster FS0 into Escherichia coli dimethyl sulfoxide reductase (DmsABC) is a prerequisite for molybdenum cofactor insertion.
DOI:10.1074/jbc.M110.213306 DOI for the Cheng et al. 2011 DmsABC assembly study.
PMID:3280546 Weiner et al. 1988, Purification and properties of Escherichia coli dimethyl sulfoxide reductase.
DOI:10.1128/jb.170.4.1505-1510.1988 DOI for the Weiner et al. 1988 E. coli DMSO reductase purification paper.

Curation history

2026-10-02T04:50:28Z codex · CREATED_RECORD — Scaffolded by scripts/new_record.py
2026-10-02T04:51:28Z codex · EXPANDED_RECORD — Added GO synonymy, DmsA/DmsB/DmsC component rows with InterPro groundings and E. coli K-12 UniProt examples, a CPX-320 heterotrimer composition with Mo-bisMGD and 4Fe-4S cofactors, dimethyl sulfoxide reductase activity, literature/database evidence, and a compact whole-complex function graph.

Source: data/structures/energy_complex/dimethyl_sulfoxide_reductase_complex.yaml