The nitrilase superfamily consists of thiol enzymes involved in natural product biosynthesis and post-translational modification in plants, animals, fungi and certain prokaryotes. On the basis of sequence similarity and the presence of additional domains, the superfamily can be classified into 13 branches, nine of which have known or deduced specificity for specific nitrile- or amide-hydrolysis or amide-condensation reactions. Genetic and biochemical analysis of the family members and their associated domains assists in predicting the localization, specificity and cell biology of hundreds of uncharacterized protein sequences.

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Review

The nitrilase superfamily: classification, structure and function

Helen C Pace and Charles Brenner email

Structural Biology and Bioinformatics Program, Kimmel Cancer Center, 233 S Tenth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA

author email corresponding author email

Genome Biology 2001, 2:reviews0001.1-0001.9doi:10.1186/gb-2001-2-1-reviews0001

Published: 15 January 2001

Subject areas: Biochemistry and structural biology


Additional files

Additional data file 1:

Links for the 176 sequences in the 13-branch classification system of the nitrilase superfamily, and a summary of information about the 13 branches.

Format: HTM Size: 62KB Download file

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