Abstract
Pectate lyases and pectin lyases have essential roles in various biotechnological applications, such as textile industry, paper making, pectic wastewater pretreatment, juice clarification and oil extraction. They can effectively cleave the α-1,4-glycosidic bond of pectin molecules back bone by β-elimination reaction to produce pectin oligosaccharides. In this way, it will not generate highly toxic methanol and has the advantages of good enzymatic selectivity, less by-products, mild reaction conditions and high efficiency. However, numerous researches have been done for several decades; there are still no comprehensive reviews to summarize the recent advances of pectate lyases and pectin lyases. This review tries to fill this gap by providing all relevant information, including the substrate, origin, biochemical properties, sequence analysis, mode of action, the three-dimensional structure and catalytic mechanism.