Oxalate accumulation from amino-acid catabolism is toxic and leads to acute disorders in mammals. Gut microflora are therefore pivotal in maintaining a safe intestinal oxalate balance through oxalate degradation. A number of bacteria, including Oxalobacter formigenes from the human gut, can carry out oxalate degradation via a two-step process:Formyl-CoA transferase (frc; ) catalyses the transfer of the CoA moiety from formyl-CoA to oxalate.Oxalate decarboxylase (oxc; ) catalyses the formation of formyl-CoA and carbon dioxide from oxalyl-CoA.This entry represents the enzyme oxalyl-CoA decarboxylase , which binds one metal ion (usually magnesium) and one thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP) per subunit as cofactors.