Title:	MD Simulation Studies of Lytic Polysaccharide Monooxygenase Enzymes of pathogenic microorganisms
DNr:	NAISS 2023/22-31
Project Type:	NAISS Small Compute
Principal Investigator:	Rajender Kumar <rajkum@kth.se>
Affiliation:	Kungliga Tekniska högskolan
Duration:	2023-01-09 – 2024-02-01
Classification:	10601
Keywords:

Abstract

Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase (LPMO) is a newly discovered family of enzymes that play a vital role in the oxidative degradation of various polysaccharides. Indeed, the LPMO has greatly promoted the revolution of enzymatic biomass conversion and its industrial applications. In several microorganisms, LPMOs act as virulence factors by degrading polysaccharides from the host cell wall, which in turn help in the establishment of the infection. Therefore, identifying and characterizing new Lytic Polysaccharide Monooxygenase (LPMO) enzymes is critically essential for identifying new targets for disease control. We have identified a few new LPMOs from oomycetes, a diverse group comprising the most devastating plant and animal pathogens, using genome-mining and comprehensive comparative sequence analysis. Further functional annotation of these LPMOs based on the CAZy database (carbohydrate-active enzymes database; www.cazy.org) showed their homology with hydrolases CAZy family 18. In addition, we also found that some LPMOs protein domains showed homology with carbohydrate-binding module families. Functional characterization of some of these LMPOs is needed to ascertain their activity and contribution to virulence and biodegradation.