dbCAN-seq

dbCAN-seq provides pre-computed carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZyme) sequences and annotations from 5,349 bacterial genomes to support analysis of CAZymes and CAZyme gene clusters (CGCs).

Key Features:

• Extensive CAZyme repository: Pre-computed CAZyme sequences and functional annotations are available for 5,349 bacterial genomes.
• CAZyme gene cluster identification: Includes capability to identify physically linked CAZyme gene clusters (CGCs) for studying coordinated enzyme systems.
• Comprehensive CAZyme annotations: Provides sequence-level annotations and functional assignments across CAZyme families to support enzyme function and interaction analyses.
• Metadata organization: Bacterial genomes are organized by disease association, habitat, oxygen requirement, temperature preference, and metabolic pathways.
• Substrate and taxonomic statistics: Compiles statistics linking inferred substrates to taxonomic phyla for comparative analyses.

Scientific Applications:

• Microbial ecology: Enables study of CAZyme distributions and carbohydrate metabolism across environments such as human gut, oral cavity, cow rumen, and marine ecosystems.
• Human health: Supports investigation of gut microbiota roles in degrading dietary and host-derived carbohydrates.
• Bioenergy and agriculture: Facilitates exploration of enzymes relevant to plant biomass degradation for biofuel production and agricultural applications.

Methodology:

Inference of glycan substrates for CGCs uses dbCAN-PUL homology search and eCAMI subfamily majority voting; alignments with polysaccharide utilization loci (PULs) are employed for substrate-related comparisons, and statistics are compiled by substrate and taxonomic phyla.