Publication

Title: FUNIN – a fungal glycoside hydrolases 32 enzyme database for developing optimized inulinases
Authors: Palmeira L, Quintanilha-Peixoto G, da Costa A, de Carvalho Cardoso E, Uetanabaro A, da Silva Sousa J, Silva D, Guimarães R, Bortolini D, Xavier J, Andrade B, Góes-Neto A.
Journal: International Journal of Biological Macromolecules,318:145050 (2025)

Tweet

Abstract

The enzymatic hydrolysis of inulin, a fructose-rich polysaccharide from plants like Agave spp., is crucial for bioethanol production. Fungal glycoside hydrolase family 32 (GH32) enzymes, especially inulinases, are central to this process, yet no dedicated database existed. To fill this gap, we developed FUNIN, a cloud-based, non-relational database cataloging and analyzing fungal GH32 enzymes relevant to inulin hydrolysis. Built with MongoDB and hosted on AWS, FUNIN integrates enzyme sequences, taxonomic data, physicochemical properties, and annotations from UniProt and InterPro via an automated ELT pipeline. Tools like CLEAN and ProtParam were used for EC number prediction and sequence characterization. The database currently includes 3420 GH32 enzymes, with strong representation from Ascomycota (91.2 %) and key genera such as Fusarium, Aspergillus, and Penicillium. Exo-inulinases (43.9 %), endo-inulinases (33.4 %), and invertases (21.6 %) dominate the dataset. These enzymes share conserved domains (PF00251-PF08244), acidic pI values, and moderate hydrophobicity. A network similarity analysis revealed structural conservation among exo-inulinases. FUNIN includes an automated monthly update via InterPro API, ensuring current data. Publicly accessible at http://funindb.lbqc.org, FUNIN enables rapid data retrieval and supports the development of optimized enzyme cocktails for Agave-based bioethanol production.

Download: Full text paper

Citation: Palmeira L, Quintanilha-Peixoto G, da Costa A, de Carvalho Cardoso E, Uetanabaro A, da Silva Sousa J, Silva D, Guimarães R, Bortolini D, Xavier J, Andrade B, Góes-Neto A. FUNIN – a fungal glycoside hydrolases 32 enzyme database for developing optimized inulinases International Journal of Biological Macromolecules,318:145050 (2025).