Nearly half of the world's organic sulfur resides within the molecule sulfoquinovose (SQ). It is estimated that approximately 10 billion tonnes of SQ is biosynthesised and degraded each year, making it a large component of the global sulfur biocycle. Recently it was revealed that Escherichia coli is capable of catabolising SQ to provide the cell with a source of energy and carbon. This occurs through a specialised glycolytic process referred to as sulfoglycolysis. Bioinformatic studies reveal that this pathway, and others more similar to the Entner-Doudoroff pathway, are common in prokaryotes and provides these organisms with the means to exploit this ubiquitous source of energy. We have been studying the enzymes of several sulfoglycolytic pathways and I will to provide detailed structural, mechanistic, and evolutionary insights into how these pathways assimilate SQ into primary metabolism.