The continuing expansion of CAZymes and their families

Marie-Line Garron (1) , Bernard Henrissat (1)

1 AFMB - Architecture et fonction des macromolécules biologiques

Carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) catalyze the assembly and breakdown of glycans and glycoconjugates. Some have been discovered, studied and exploited for numerous applications long ago. For instance, amylase and invertase were isolated in the second half of the 19th century and lysozyme was the first enzyme whose 3-D structure was determined. In spite of this early start, the number of families of carbohydrate-active enzymes continues to grow steadily in the early 21st century. This review examines the CAZyme families reported during the last two years and posits that the current expansion will continue in the future, progressively uncovering the massive diversity of glycans whose breakdown requires a large diversity of bespoke enzymes.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]

Marie-Line Garron, Bernard Henrissat. The continuing expansion of CAZymes and their families. Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, 2019, 53, pp.82-87. ⟨10.1016/j.cbpa.2019.08.004⟩. ⟨hal-02612533⟩