Glycoside hydrolases (EC 3.2.1.-) are a widespread group of enzymes which hydrolyse the glycosidic bond between two or more carbohydrates or between a carbohydrate and a non-carbohydrate moiety. The IUBMB Enzyme nomenclature of glycoside hydrolases is based on their substrate specificity and occasionally on their molecular mechanism; such a classification does not reflect (and was not intended to) the structural features of these enzymes. A classification of glycoside hydrolases in families based on amino acid sequence similarities has been proposed a few years ago. Because there is a direct relationship between sequence and folding similarities, such a classification:
(i) reflects the structural features of these enzymes better than their sole substrate specificity,
(ii) helps to reveal the evolutionary relationships between these enzymes,
(iii) provides a convenient tool to derive mechanistic information [1] [2]
(iv) illustrates the difficulty of deriving relationships between family membership and substrate specificity
For a detailed description of the catalytic mechanism (and variations thereof) of glycoside hydrolases