The functions of plant glycoside hydrolases and transglycosidases have been studied using different biochemical and molecular genetic approaches. These enzymes are involved in the metabolism of various carbohydrates containing compounds present in the plant tissues. The structural and functional diversity of the carbohydrates implies a vast spectrum of enzymes involved in their metabolism. Complete genome sequence of Arabidopsis and rice has allowed the classification of glycoside hydrolases in different families based on amino acid sequence data. The genomes of these plants contain 29 families of glycoside hydrolases. This review summarizes the current research on plant glycoside hydrolases concerning their principal functional roles, which were attributed to different families. The majority of these plant glycoside hydrolases are involved in cell wall polysaccharide metabolism. Other functions include their participation in the biosynthesis and remodulation of glycans, mobilization of energy, defence, symbiosis, signalling, secondary plant metabolism and metabolism of glycolipids.

Bacterial cell envelope protein (CEP) complexes mediate a range of processes, including membrane assembly, antibiotic resistance and metabolic coordination. However, only limited characterization of relevant macromolecules has been reported to date. Here we present a proteomic survey of 1,347 CEPs encompassing 90% inner- and outer-membrane and periplasmic proteins of Escherichia coli. After extraction with non-denaturing detergents, we affinity-purified 785 endogenously tagged CEPs and identified stably associated polypeptides by precision mass spectrometry. The resulting high-quality physical interaction network, comprising 77% of targeted CEPs, revealed many previously uncharacterized heteromeric complexes. We found that the secretion of autotransporters requires translocation and the assembly module TamB to nucleate proper folding from periplasm to cell surface through a cooperative mechanism involving the β-barrel assembly machinery. We also establish that an ABC transporter of unknown function, YadH, together with the Mla system preserves outer membrane lipid asymmetry. This E. coli CEP ‘interactome’ provides insights into the functional landscape governing CE systems essential to bacterial growth, metabolism and drug resistance.

N-glycosylated proteins were isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana mature stems using affinity chromatography on Concanavalin A Sepharose, separated by 2D-electrophoresis and identified using nanoHPLC-MS/MS and MALDI-TOF MS. 102 glycoproteins were identified. 94% of these proteins were predicted by bioinformatics to be targeted to the secretory pathway and 87% of them were predicted to be localized in the cell wall or at the plasma membrane. 30% of these proteins belong to glycoside hydrolase (GH) families with some of them possibly involved in the hydrolysis of cell wall polysaccharides. The second major class of identified proteins comprises aspartyl and serine proteases. Other proteins are predicted to be oxido-reductases, contain interacting domains, are potentially involved in signalling or have an unknown function. This is, to our knowledge, the first survey of plant cell wall N-glycosylated proteins.

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This work describes the purification and characterization of enzymes that exhibit b-D-xylosidase activity in stem tissues of Arabidopsis. This is the first detailed investigation that concerns the characterization of catalytic properties and sequence identity of enzymes with b-D-xylosidase activities in a dicotyledonous plant. Three different enzymes, ARAf, XYL4, and XYL1 with apparent molecular masses of 75, 67, and 64 kD, respectively, were purified to homogeneity. ARAf was identified as a putative a-L-arabinofuranosidase, and XYL4 and XYL1 as putative b-D-xylosidases using matrix-assisted laser-desorption ionization time of flight. ARAf belongs to family 51 and XYL4 and XYL1 to family 3 of glycoside hydrolases. ARAf and XYL1 have highest specificity for p-nitrophenyl-a-L-arabinofuranoside and XYL4 for p-nitrophenyl-b-D-xylopyranoside and natural substrates such as xylobiose and xylotetraose. XYL4 was shown to release mainly D-Xyl from oat spelt xylan, rye arabinoxylan, wheat arabinoxylan, and oligoarabinoxylans. ARAf and XYL1 can also release D-Xyl from these substrates but less efficiently than XYL4. Moreover, they can also release L-Ara from arabinoxylans and arabinan. Overall, the results indicate that XYL4 possesses enzymatic specificity characteristic for a b-D-xylosidase, while ARAf and XYL1 act as bifunctional a-L-arabinofuranosidase/b-D-xylosidases. Analysis of the activity of these three enzymes in stem tissues at different stages of development has shown that young stems possess the highest activities for all three enzymes in comparison to the activities of the enzymes present in stems at older stages of development. High enzyme activities are most likely related to the necessary modifications of cell wall structure occurring during plant growth. Plant cells are surrounded by an extracellular matrix known as the cell wall. The regulation of cell wall morphology and composition is important for the determination of cell size and shape, cellular interactions with the environment, mechanical resistance, and defense against pathogen attacks (Reiter, 2002). The cell wall is also involved in plant growth and development (Stolle-Smits et al., 1999;Obel et al., 2002). In addition, although cell walls consist mainly of polysaccharides broadly classified as celluloses, hemicelluloses, and pectins, their constitution varies, not only from plant to plant, but also in different tissues of the same plant (Heredia et al., 1995;Cosgrove, 1997;Popper and Fry, 2003). A coordinated series of biochemical processes occur during plant development resulting in the biosynthesis and degradation of cell wall components. Consequently, numerous enzymes must be implicated in these processes (Heredia et al., 1995;Cosgrove, 1997;Stolle-Smits et al., 1999;Obel et al., 2002;Reiter, 2002;Popper and Fry, 2003). However, to date, little information is available concerning such enzymes, their mode of action, and their physiological role. Increased research interest has focused on enzymes involved in the metabolism of hemicelluloses in ...