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27 February 2016: The sweet side of sulfur: Author Spencer Williams has updated the Glycoside Hydrolase Family 31 page to reflect the recent discovery of the first dedicated sulfoquinovosidases (SQases), previously ‘hidden’ within this family. SQases cleave alpha-glycosides of sulfoquinovose (6-sulfoglucose), which represent a significant reservoir of organosulfur in the biosphere. See the GH31 page to discover more of the hidden charms of this family.
11 September 2015: Let's hear it for the transglycosylases!: Today, Authors Ramon Hurtado-Guerrero and Thierry Fontaine, together with Responsible Curator Bernard Henrissat, completed the Glycoside Hydrolase Family 72 page. GH72 is a small but important family of beta(1-3)-glucan transglycosylases that function to remodel the cell wall during the growth of yeast and other fungi. Predominant or strict transglycosylases are relatively rare in GH families, with other notable examples coming from GH13, GH16, GH31, GH70, and GH77. Read more about GH72 and what makes transglycosylases so interesting here in CAZypedia!
6 August 2015: Live from the Cellulase/CAZyme GRC: CAZypedia marches on with the completion of the Polysaccharide Lyase Family 1 today by Responsible Curator and Author Richard Pickersgill, with additional editing by Polysaccharide Lyase Families coordinator Wade Abbott. PL1 contains pectate lyases from microbes and plants, which are key enzymes in plant cell wall remodelling/break-down. The solution of the crystal structure of a pectate lyase C from the plant pathogen Erwinia chrysanthemi was the first to reveal the parallel beta-helix as a novel protein fold that is now known to serve as the scaffold of other pectinolytic enzymes, including pectin hydrolases (GH28) and pectin methylesterases (CE8). Read more about the discovery of pectate lyases and the enzymology and crystallography of PL1 here.
28 July 2015: 100 GH FAMILIES!!! We are extremely pleased to announce that CAZypedia has reached the key milestone of 100 Curator Approved Glycoside Hydrolase Family pages today, thanks to the completion of the Glycoside Hydrolase Family 12 page by Gerlind Sulzenbacher. GH12 is one of the classic "cellulase" families (formerly known as cellulase family H) defined early in the history of the CAZy classification; GH12 is now known to comprise both microbial endo-glucanases and endo-xyloglucanases. The completion of this page is especially timely in advance of the upcoming 2015 GRC on Cellulosomes, Cellulases & Other Carbohydrate Modifying Enzymes, happening next week. Gerlind performed the seminal crystallography in this family (under the mentorship of Gideon Davies), and we would especially like to thank her for producing an excellent summary and series of figures for the "Three-dimensional structures" section.
The Board of Curators would also like to take the opportunity of this key milestone to express our sincere gratitude to our many expert Contributors for their time and dedication to building CAZypedia as a community-based resource over the past 8 years. In addition to the 100 Curator Approved GH pages, CAZypedia also currently contains 5 PL Family pages, 2 AA Family pages, 2 GT Family pages, 10 CBM Family pages, and 22 Lexicon pages!