AUTHOR=Knecht Leandra E. , Veljkovic Marjan , Fieseler Lars 

TITLE=Diversity and Function of Phage Encoded Depolymerases

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2019

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.02949

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2019.02949

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=Bacteriophages of the Podoviridae family often exhibit depolymerases, e.g. lyases and hydrolases, as structural components of the virion. The enzymes are connected to the baseplate and appear as tail spike or tail fiber proteins, respectively. After specific binding to capsular polysaccharides (CPS), exopolysaccharides (EPS) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of the host bacteria, polysaccharide-repeating units are specifically cleaved by the enzymes. Finally, the phage reaches the last barrier, e.g. the cell wall, injects its DNA, and infects the cell. Recently members of the other bacteriophage families, e.g. in the Ackermannviridae, Myoviridae, and Siphoviridae families producing similar enzymes have also been described.
In this mini-review the diversity, structure, and function of phage encoded CPS-, EPS- and LPS-degrading lyases and hydrolases are summarized. The function of the enzymes is described in terms of substrate specificity and applications in biotechnology.