Marine invertebrates, such as sponges, tunicates and cnidarians (zoantharians and\nscleractinian corals), form functional assemblages, known as holobionts, with numerous microbes.\nThis type of species-specific symbiotic association can be a repository of myriad valuable low\nmolecular weight organic compounds, bioactive peptides and enzymes. The zoantharian Protopalythoa\nvariabilis (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) is one such example of a marine holobiont that inhabits the coastal\nreefs of the tropical Atlantic coast and is an interesting source of secondary metabolites and\nbiologically active polypeptides. In the present study, we analyzed the entire holo-transcriptome\nof P. variabilis, looking for enzyme precursors expressed in the zoantharian-microbiota assemblage\nthat are potentially useful as industrial biocatalysts and biopharmaceuticals. In addition to hundreds\nof predicted enzymes that fit into the classes of hydrolases, oxidoreductases and transferases\nthat were found, novel enzyme precursors with multiple activities in single structures and\nenzymes with incomplete Enzyme Commission numbers were revealed. Our results indicated\nthe predictive expression of thirteen multifunctional enzymes and 694 enzyme sequences with\npartially characterized activities, distributed in 23 sub-subclasses. These predicted enzyme structures\nand activities can prospectively be harnessed for applications in diverse areas of industrial and\npharmaceutical biotechnology.
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