Back

Screening for Polysaccharide Utilization Loci Targeting Marine Polysaccharides

Helbert, W.; Mettou, A.; Poulet, L.; Loiodice, M.; Drouillard, S.; Couturier, M.; Rousset, A.; Pierre, R.; Khamassi, A.; Curci, N.; Roig-Zamboni, V.; Sulzenbacher, G.; Vincentelli, R.; Drula, E.; Garron, M.-L.; Lombard, V.; Bouargalne, Y.; Aghajari, N.; Terrapon, N.

2026-05-21 biochemistry
10.64898/2026.05.19.726164 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Polysaccharide utilization loci (PULs) have been a goldmine for the characterization of novel carbohydrate active enzymes (CAZymes) and the understanding of their synergistic degradation of complex polysaccharides. We collected PUL predictions containing CAZymes from glycoside hydrolase families GH29, GH50 and GH117, expected to participate in marine polysaccharide breakdown. We explored the evolutionary diversity in these families in terms of sequences and PUL composition, based on sulfatases and CAZymes. From 41 selected PULs, more than 400 putative enzymes were produced, purified and screened on a large collection of carbohydrates. We attributed a function to more than 130 enzymes from five sulfatase subfamilies, 29 known CAZymes families and discovered an activity for 4 families previously of unknown function, including an -L-galactosidase structurally and functionally characterized with mutants. Finally, our detailed analysis of the enzymatic synergies in five PULs, two targeting marine polysaccharides and three targeting eukaryotic polysaccharides, by marine and human gut organisms, highlight the efficiency of our exploratory strategy.

Matching journals

The top 6 journals account for 50% of the predicted probability mass.

1
Nature Communications
4913 papers in training set
Top 1%
28.7%
2
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
2130 papers in training set
Top 13%
5.0%
3
eLife
5422 papers in training set
Top 19%
4.5%
4
Science China Life Sciences
26 papers in training set
Top 0.2%
4.5%
5
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
81 papers in training set
Top 0.9%
3.7%
6
Journal of the American Chemical Society
199 papers in training set
Top 2%
3.7%
50% of probability mass above
7
PLOS Computational Biology
1633 papers in training set
Top 12%
2.7%
8
ACS Catalysis
16 papers in training set
Top 0.1%
2.2%
9
Advanced Science
249 papers in training set
Top 9%
2.0%
10
Cell Discovery
54 papers in training set
Top 2%
1.9%
11
Nucleic Acids Research
1128 papers in training set
Top 10%
1.8%
12
Horticulture Research
43 papers in training set
Top 0.9%
1.7%
13
Cell Chemical Biology
81 papers in training set
Top 2%
1.7%
14
Protein & Cell
25 papers in training set
Top 1%
1.4%
15
Cell
370 papers in training set
Top 14%
1.3%
16
Nature Chemistry
34 papers in training set
Top 0.6%
1.3%
17
ACS Synthetic Biology
256 papers in training set
Top 2%
1.3%
18
PNAS Nexus
147 papers in training set
Top 0.6%
1.3%
19
ACS Chemical Biology
150 papers in training set
Top 2%
0.9%
20
Cell Reports
1338 papers in training set
Top 30%
0.9%
21
Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology
10 papers in training set
Top 0.4%
0.9%
22
ACS Omega
90 papers in training set
Top 3%
0.8%
23
Cell Reports Physical Science
18 papers in training set
Top 0.6%
0.8%
24
Protein Science
221 papers in training set
Top 2%
0.8%
25
Communications Biology
886 papers in training set
Top 22%
0.8%
26
Nature Chemical Biology
104 papers in training set
Top 3%
0.8%
27
Cell Reports Methods
141 papers in training set
Top 5%
0.8%
28
Cell Systems
167 papers in training set
Top 12%
0.8%
29
Metabolic Engineering
68 papers in training set
Top 0.8%
0.7%
30
ACS Central Science
66 papers in training set
Top 2%
0.7%