Laboratory Glycogenomics group | Primary citation Lombard & al. (2014) | |
Description carbohydrate-active enzymes database Research center AFMB, French National Centre for Scientific Research | ||
CAZy is a database of Carbohydrate-Active enZYmes (CAZymes). The database contains a classification and associated information about enzymes involved in the synthesis, metabolism, and transport of carbohydrates. Included in the database are glycoside hydrolases, glycosyltransferases, polysaccharide lyases, carbohydrate esterase and carbohydrate-binding families.
CAZy was established in 1999 in order to provide online and constantly updated access to the family classification of CAZymes. New genomes are added shortly after they appear in the daily releases of GenBank. As of November 2013, CAZy contains sequence information on nearly 340,000 CAZymes.
The CAZy database is coupled with the CAZypedia online encyclopedia, which was launched in June 2009 and intended to be a wiki-based encyclopedia of CAZymes. As of 2014, CAZy is developed by the Glycogenomics group at AFMB, a research centre affiliated with the French National Centre for Scientific Research and Aix-Marseille University.
Classification
CAZy identifies evolutionarily related families of glycosyl hydrolases using the classification introduced by Bernard Henrissat. As of 2012 CAZy contains 131 families of glycosyl hydrolase families. These families are given a number to identify them, so for example Glycosyl hydrolase family 1 contains enzymes that possess a TIM barrel fold. These families are clustered into 14 different clans that share structural similarity. CAZy contains 94 families of Glycosyl transferase enzymes, 22 families of polysaccharide lysases and 16 families of carbohydrate esterases.