The enzyme fluoroacetyl-CoA thioesterase (EC 3.1.2.29; systematic name fluoroacetyl-CoA hydrolase) catalyses the following reaction:
The enzyme characterised from the plant Dichapetalum cymosum and the bacterium Streptomyces cattleya hydrolyses fluoroacetyl-CoA to coenzyme A and fluoroacetic acid, which form the thioester in the starting material.
Dichapetalum cymosum is native to northern parts of Southern Africa and is a common cause of lethal cattle poisoning owing to the content of fluoroacetic acid in its leaves. Fluoroacetate is extremely toxic to most organisms. The enzyme ensures that any fluoroacetyl-CoA produced by normal metabolic processes that use acetyl-CoA cannot go on to be incorporated into fluorocitric acid by citrate synthase.
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