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Welcome to CAZypedia! The Living Encyclopedia of Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes. Now containing the following Curator Approved content: 135 Glycoside Hydrolase (GH) Family pages, 12 Polysaccharide Lyase (PL) Family pages, 8 Carbohydrate Esterase (CE) Family pages, 7 Auxiliary Activity (AA) Family pages, 3 Glycosyltransferase (GT) Family pages, 52 Carbohydrate Binding Module (CBM) Family pages, and 24 Lexicon pages!

Purpose CAZypedia has been initiated as a community-driven resource to assemble a comprehensive encyclopedia of the "CAZymes," the carbohydrate-active enzymes and associated carbohydrate-binding modules involved in the synthesis and degradation of complex carbohydrates. CAZypedia is inspired by, and closely connected with, the actively curated CAZy Database. It's probably fair to say that CAZypedians are, like our friends at the CAZy DB, a group of "biocurators." If you are new to the CAZyme classification, "Sorting the Diverse" by Professors Gideon Davies and Michael Sinnott (The Biochemist, 2008, vol. 30, part 4, pp. 26-32) provides an excellent introduction and historical perspective. Content CAZypedia initially focussed on the Glycoside Hydrolase Families defined in the CAZy Database, and we continue to strive for complete coverage of this diverse class of enzymes. Other catabolic and anabolic CAZymes, as well as Auxiliary redox enzymes and non-catalytic Carbohydrate Binding Modules, continue to be incorporated as interest and engagement from the scientific community grows. In addition, there is a Lexicon of terms relevant to CAZymes and carbohydrate chemistry. These and other aspects of CAZypedia's content can be accessed through the menus on the left side of each page. How CAZypedia works CAZypedia is built on authoring and editing principles similar to those of other expert-based online encyclopedias (cf. Citizendium, Scholarpedia). All contributors to CAZypedia, from the Authors to the Board of Curators, are experts in the field. Transparency is achieved through the use of contributors' real names and published biographies in CAZypedia. Individual entries in CAZypedia are managed by Responsible Curators, who are responsible for selecting expert Authors and coordinating author contributions on individual pages. Selection of Responsible Curators, based on their specialist expertise and ability to participate in the active maintenance of entry content, is handled by the Senior Curators. More information on CAZypedia's content and editorial policies is available here. A short lecture and a set of slides presenting CAZypedia are freely available here. An article describing CAZypedia's genesis and evolution has been published in the journal Glycobiology. Contact If you would like to get involved with CAZypedia or suggest an improvement, please contact the Board of Curators.

Latest news 16 August 2023: An oldie but a goodie. The page for CBM9, one of the original founding top 10 Carbohydrate Binding Module Families, has been completed by Johan Larsbrink, who multitasked as both Author and Responsible Curator. CBM9 members are often found in ultra-multimodular, xylan deconstructing, bacterial enzymes, and their cellulose-binding functionality has been exploited as affinity tags in recombinant protein purifications. Read more on this historically important CBM family here! 25 June 2023: Another one from the capybara gut. We're pleased to announce that the Glycoside Hydrolase Family 173 page, written by Authors Clelton Aparecido dos Santos and Gabriela Felix Persinoti was Curator Approved by Mario Murakami today. This new family of beta-galactosidases was created through the same study of the capybara gut metagenome by the Murakami group that led to the creation of family CBM89 (see the June 22nd News item). GH173 appears to be distantly related to GH5 and GH30 in Clan GH-A, yet there remain many unknowns about this family and its founding member - read more here! 23 June 2023: Human milk oligosaccharide metabolism. Author Chihaya Yamada and Responsible Curator Shinya Fushinobu upgraded the Glycoside Hydrolase Family 136 page to Curator Approved status today. GH136 is a family of bacterial lacto-N-biosidases that release lacto-N-biose I and lactose from lacto-N-tetraose, the main component of human milk oligosaccharides. These enzymes have a comparatively rare right-handed beta helix fold that more typical of pectin-active PLs and GHs. Read more about these interesting enzymes and their role in the human gut microbiota here! 22 June 2023: These CBMs are sizeable! The recently discovered xylan-binding CBM89 family, originating from the capybara gut microbiota, is described by Authors Mariana Abrahão Bueno de Morais and Gabriela Felix Persinoti. Mario Murakami acted as Responsible Curator on the page. CBM89 members are 600 - 1000 amino acids long which puts them in the upper echelons of CBM sizes - just as the capybara is to the rodent order. You can check out the write up on these unusually large CBMs on their CBM89 CAZypedia page. > older news

Dedication CAZypedia is dedicated to the late Prof. Bruce Stone, whose enthusiasm to create a comprehensive encyclopedia of carbohydrate-active enzymes was essential in the genesis of this project.