Dietary complex carbohydrates play a central role in human health by defining the structure of our large bowel microbial community (human microbiota). In addition, plant cell wall polysaccharides are of increasing importance in environmentally significant industries such as the bioenergy and biorefining sectors. The utilization of complex carbohydrates is dependent on their efficient hydrolysis to their component sugars by extensive repertoires of microbial enzymes. The identification of such enzymes from genomic data is therefore critical to understanding the mechanism by which complex carbohydrates can be used to manipulate the human microbiota and to generate sugars for the bioenergy industry. In this seminar I will show how structural biology, in harness with detailed biochemical analyses, can be exploited to provide a predictive biology platform designed to identify glycan degrading enzymes1. The seminar will demonstrate how both catalytic domains and non-catalytic carbohydrate binding modules can contribute to enzymatic specificity2, focussing on the importance of analysing enzyme action on biologically significant substrates3. The lecture will provide a novel model for CBM potentiation of enzymatic activity, identify new activities for several glycoside hydrolase families, and provide insights into the strategies deployed by large intestinal bacteria to degrade and utilize complex carbohydrates. Finally, the seminar will show how functional platforms, derived from specificity data, can inform engineering strategies targeted at improving the industrial utility of these biocatalysts4.
1. Zhou et al. (2010)Nature Chem. Biol.6,125-32
2. Cuskin et al. (2012)Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A109,20889-94
3. Hervé et al. (2010)Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A107,15293-8
4. McKee et al. (2012)Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A109,6537-42.
