The CAZy database describes the families of structurally-related catalytic and carbohydrate-binding modules (or functional domains) of enzymes that degrade, modify, or create glycosidic bonds.
Online since 1998, CAZy is a specialist database dedicated to the display and analysis of genomic, structural and biochemical information on Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes (CAZymes).
CAZy data are accessible either by browsing sequence-based families or by browsing the content of genomes in carbohydrate-active enzymes. New genomes are added regularly shortly after they appear in the daily releases of GenBank. New families are created based on published evidence for the activity of at least one member of the family and all families are regularly updated, both in content and in description.
An original aspect of the CAZy database is its attempt to cover all carbohydrate-active enzymes across organisms and across subfields of glycosciences. Please let us know if some families have escaped our attention, we will be happy to add them !
For a more extensive encyclopedic resource on the particular features of carbohydrate active enzymes, please visit CAZypedia, a web site driven by the scientific community that studies these enzymes.
A new reference for the CAZy database : In the latest database issue of Nucleic Acids Research, we summarize the many changes that have occurred in the CAZy database during the last five years.
Read the Abstract or the full PDF.
A new tool associated with the CAZy database ! PULDB is a database of Polysaccharide Utilization Loci (PULs) in Bacteroidetes. PULDB displays information on experimentally determined and predicted PULs for a number of Bacteroidetes genomes.
Read the Abstract or the full paper.
Enzyme Classes currently covered
Modules that catalyze the breakdown, biosynthesis or modification of carbohydrates and glycoconjugates:
Polysaccharide Lyases (PLs) : non-hydrolytic cleavage of glycosidic bonds
Carbohydrate Esterases (CEs) : hydrolysis of carbohydrate esters
Auxiliary Activities (AAs) : redox enzymes that act in conjunction with CAZymes.
Associated Modules currently covered
Carbohydrate-active enzymes often display a modular structure with non-catalytic modules appended to the enzymes above
Carbohydrate-Binding Modules (CBMs) : adhesion to carbohydrates