Harvard researchers develop a new tool for rapid identification of microbial enzymes

Researchers in computational biology and bioinformatics at Harvard University have developed a new tool to help identify enzymes in microorganisms more accurately and quantify their relative abundance The research results were published in science on February 10, 2017 Despite years of efforts, including the sequencing of thousands of volunteers' gut microbes, the vast majority (85%) of the protein functions of these microbial communities are still unknown Most of these proteins may be enzymes The chemical processes involved by enzymes not represented in the human intestinal microbiome are essential for human health, but little is known about them at present This limits scientists' understanding of the function of the community and its impact on host health and disease By combining information on enzyme chemistry into quantitative metagenomics, the researchers determined the abundance and distribution of individual members of the glycyl free radical enzyme superfamily in healthy human microorganisms Many unrepresentated family members were also identified They are widely distributed in human body, which proves that they have important functions Experiments show that it can metabolize an amino acid called 4-hydroxyproline, which is the main component of collagen (the most abundant protein in human body) It has been proved that microorganisms can use this amino acid to grow in the anaerobic environment of human intestinal tract Without such tools, it is very difficult to find new chemistry in the intestinal microbiome due to the similarities of many enzymes Through the accurate identification of enzymes in the microbial community, it reflects the characteristics of the reaction enzymes in the ecological environment, and reveals a wide range of metabolic activities that have not been concerned before Identification and characterization of new enzymes can better understand the metabolic process of microbial community and its impact on surrounding organisms and environment In this paper, researchers only use data from healthy humans, with the help of new tools to examine a variety of patient populations, other protein superfamilies and other microbiomes In the future, by comparing the abundance of enzymes in the microbiota from healthy individuals and patients with various diseases, it can be found that the intestinal metabolizing activity microbiome may change with the disease If some specific enzymes are particularly abundant in patients with specific diseases, they can be potential therapeutic targets (BIOON Com)