• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.266-280
• /
• 2012

Agar is a cell wall component of macro red algae that can be hydrolyzed by agarase. Agarases are classified into ${\alpha}$-agarase (E.C. 3.2.1.158) and ${\beta}$-agarase (E.C. 3.2.1.81), in accordance with their cleavage pattern, and can be grouped in the glycoside hydrolase (GH)-16, -58, -86, -96, and -118 family according to the amino acid sequences of the proteins. Many agarases and/or their genes have been detected, isolated, and recombinantly expressed from bacteria, and metagenomes have their origins in sea and terrestrial environments. Products of agarases, agarooligosaccharides and neoagarooligosaccharides, represent wide functions such as antitumor, immune stimulation, antioxidation, prebiotic, hepa-protective, antibacterial, whitening, and moisturizing effects; hence, broad applications would be possible in the food industry, cosmetics, and medical fields. In addition, agarases are also used as a tool enzyme for research. This paper reviews the sources, purifications and detection methods, and application fields of agarases. The role of agarases in agar metabolism and the function of their enzymatic products are also surveyed.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.379-385
• /
• 2011

Ferulic acid esterase (FAE) and acetyl esterase (AE) cleave feruloyl groups substituted at the 5'-OH group of arabinosyl residues and acetyl groups substituted at O-2/O-3 of the xylan backbone, respectively, of arabinoxylans in the cell wall of grasses. In this study, the enzyme profiles of FAE, AE and polysaccharide hydrolases of the anaerobic rumen fungus Neocallimastix sp. YQ1 grown on Chinese wildrye grass hay (CW) or alfalfa hay (AH) were investigated by two $2{\times}4$ factorial experiments, each in 10-day pure cultures. The treatments consisted of two glucose levels ($G^+$: glucose at 1.0 g/L, $G^-$: no glucose) and four N sources (N1: 1.0 g/L yeast extract, 1.0 g/L tryptone and 0.5 g/L $(NH_4)_2SO_4$; N2: 2.8 g/L yeast extract and 0.5 g/L $(NH_4)_2SO_4$; N3: 1.6 g/L tryptone and 0.5 g/L $(NH_4)_2SO_4$; N4: 1.4 g/L tryptone and 1.7 g/L yeast extract) in defined media. The optimal combinations of glucose level and N source for the fungus on CW, instead of AH, were $G^-N4$ and $G^-N3$ for maximum production of FAE and AE, respectively. Xylanase activity peaked on day 4 and day 6 for the fungus grown on CW and AH, respectively. The activities of esterases were positively correlated with those of xylanase and carboxymethyl cellulase. The fungus grown on CW exhibited a greater volatile fatty acid production than on AH with a greater release of ferulic acid from plant cell wall.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.302-309
• /
• 2005

Phytopathogenic Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum (Pcc) LY34 secretes multiple isozymes of the plant cell wall degrading enzyme endoglucanases. We have cloned a third cel gene encoding CMCase from Pcc LY34. The structural organization of the celC gene (AY188753) consisted of an open reading frame (ORP) of 1,116 bp encoding 371 amino acid residues with a signal peptide of 22 amino acids within the NH$_2$-terminal region of pre-CelC. The predicted amino acid sequence of CelC was similar to that of Peetobaeterium ehrysanthemi Cel8Y (AF282321). The CelC has the conserved region of the glycoside hydrolase family 8. The apparent molecular mass of CelC was calculated to be 39 kDa by CMC-SDS-PAGE. The cellulase­minus mutant of Pee LY34 was as virulent as the wild-type in pathogenicity tests on tubers of potato. The results suggest that the CelC of Pce LY34 is a minor factor for the pathogenesis of soft-rot.