An oxygen-sensitive enzyme that contains tungsten-molybdopterin and iron-sulfur clusters, isolated the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus. In that organism the enzyme is heterodimeric, comprising a catalytic subunit that contains the active site tungsto-bispyranopterin cofactor and a [4Fe-4S] cluster and an electron-transfer subunit that contains four additional [4Fe-4S] clusters. The activity involves two steps: an oxidative desulfonation reaction, followed by the activation of a second water molecule and oxidation of the resulting aldehyde (cf. EC 1.2.7.5, aldehyde ferredoxin oxidoreductase).
