A Novel Auxiliary Agarolytic Pathway Expands Metabolic Versatility in the Agar-Degrading Marine Bacterium Colwellia echini A3^T.

ABSTRACT: Marine microorganisms encode a complex repertoire of carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) for the catabolism of algal cell wall polysaccharides. While the core enzyme cascade for degrading agar is conserved across agarolytic marine bacteria, gain of novel metabolic functions can lead to the evolutionary expansion of the gene repertoire. Here, we describe how two less-abundant GH96 α-agarases harbored in the agar-specific polysaccharide utilization locus (PUL) of Colwellia echini strain A3^T facilitate the versatility of the agarolytic pathway. The cellular and molecular functions of the α-agarases examined by genomic, transcriptomic, and biochemical analyses revealed that α-agarases of C. echini A3^T create a novel auxiliary pathway. α-Agarases convert even-numb

SUBMITTER: Pathiraja D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8174756 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature