A combination of bioinformatics, steady-state kinetics, and NMR spectroscopy has revealed the catalytic functions of YcjQ, YcjS and YcjR from the ycj gene cluster in Escherichia coli K-12. YcjS was determined to be a 3-keto-D-glucoside dehydrogenase with a k cat = 22 s −1 , and k cat /K m = 2.3 × 10 4 M −1 s −1 for the reduction of methyl α-3-keto-D-glucopyranoside at pH 7.0 with NADH. YcjS also exhibited catalytic activity for the NAD +-dependent oxidation of D-glucose, methyl β-Dglucopyranoside, and 1,5-anhydro-D-glucitol. YcjQ was determined to be a 3-keto-D-guloside dehydrogenase with k cat = 18 s −1 , and k cat /K m = 2.0 × 10 3 M −1 s −1 for the reduction of methyl α-3-keto-gulopyranoside. This is first reported dehydrogenase for the oxidation of D-gulose. YcjQ also exhibited catalytic activity with D-gulose and methyl β-D-gulopyranoside. The 3-keto products from both dehydrogenases were found to be extremely labile under alkaline conditions. The function of YcjR was demonstrated to be a C-4 epimerase that interconverts 3-keto-Dgulopyranosides to 3-keto-D-glucopyranosides. These three enzymes, YcjQ, YcjR, and YcjS, thus constitute a previously unrecognized metabolic pathway for the transformation of D-gulosides to Dglucosides via the intermediate formation of 3-keto-D-guloside and 3-keto-D-glucoside.