ABSTRACT
Carbohydrate-active enzymes are vital in an abundance of cellular processes. They create, modify and degrade glycosidic bonds in monosaccharides, oligo- or polysaccharides.
Carbohydrate-active enzymes include glycosyltransferases (GTs), glycoside hydrolases (GHs, also called glycosidases or glycosyl hydrolases) and esterases. They often display a modular structure with catalytic and non-catalytic modules. An essential non-catalytic module is the carbohydrate-binding module. Catalytic modules are subdivided into various families that catalyze the breakdown, biosynthesis and/or modification of carbohydrates and glycoconjugates GTs are enzymes that catalyze glycosyl group transfer from glycosyl donors to nucleophilic acceptors to form glycosides. GHs are enzymes that hydrolyze the glycosidic bond between two or more carbohydrates or between a carbohydrate and a non-carbohydrate. An esterase is a hydrolase enzyme that splits esters into an acid and an alcohol in a chemical reaction with water called hydrolysis.
