Alginate lyases

An alternative term for poly(beta-D-mannuronate) lyases — enzymes that cleave alginate chains at specific linkages, produced by marine bacteria and some molluscs that digest seaweed. Biotechnologists deploy them to trim alginate molecular weight for precise gel strengths, and to generate alginate oligosaccharides investigated for prebiotic and biomedical activity. They are the enzymatic counterpart to alginate’s gelling chemistry: where calcium builds the gel network, lyases take it apart with surgical specificity. In nature they recycle kelp debris; in industry they tailor a seaweed polymer to specification.