SacPox from the thermoacidophilic crenarchaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius is a proficient lactonase

Background Sac Pox, an enzyme from the extremophilic crenarchaeal Sulfolobus acidocaldarius (Sac), was isolated by virtue of its phosphotriesterase (or paraoxonase; Pox) activity, i.e. its ability to hydrolyze the neurotoxic organophosphorus insecticides. Later on, Sac Pox was shown to belong to the Phosphotriesterase-Like Lactonase family that comprises natural lactonases, possibly involved in quorum sensing, and endowed with promiscuous, phosphotriesterase activity.