Clostridium perfringens chitinases, key enzymes during early stages of necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens.

ABSTRACT: The interaction between bacteria and the intestinal mucus is crucial during the early pathogenesis of many enteric diseases in mammals. A critical step in this process employed by both commensal and pathogenic bacteria focuses on the breakdown of the protective layer presented by the intestinal mucus by mucolytic enzymes. C. perfringens type G, the causative agent of necrotic enteritis in broilers, produces two glycosyl hydrolase family 18 chitinases, ChiA and ChiB, which display distinct substrate preferences. Whereas ChiB preferentially processes linear substrates such as chitin, ChiA prefers larger and more branched substrates, such as carbohydrates presented by the chicken intestinal mucus. Here, we show via crystal structures of ChiA and ChiB in the apo and ligand-bound forms that the

SUBMITTER: Dierick E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11426533 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature