Aquatic photochemistry of cysteine
Chiheng Chu has a new paper in Environmental Science & Technology on the photochemical reactivity of cysteine (Cys) under environmentally relevant conditions. This study is the culmination of years of methodological development and represents the work of many people, leading to a list of 10 authors! Overall, the results indicate that free Cys will be very reactive in sunlit natural waters containing chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM), yielding several oxidation products. In addition, Cys is also reactive with dissolved organic matter in the dark, albeit at a much slower rate.
Photochemical and non-photochemical transformations of cysteine with dissolved organic matter
Chiheng Chu, Paul R. Erickson, Rachel A. Lundeen, Dimitrios Stamatelatos, Peter J. Alaimo, Douglas E. Latch, Kristopher McNeill*
Environ. Sci. Technol. 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b01291