Acetylxylan esterase

UniProtKB accession:  Q09LX1

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UniProtKB description:  Acetylxylan esterase involved in the degradation of xylan, a major structural heterogeneous polysaccharide found in plant biomass representing the second most abundant polysaccharide in the biosphere, after cellulose. Cleaves acetyl side groups from the xylose backbone units of the hemicellulolytic polymer xylan and xylo-oligosaccharides. Hydrolyzes about 20%-30% of the available acetyl groups on fully acetylated birch wood xylan. Completely deacetylates xylobiose peracetate (fully acetylated), and is active on both the alpha- and beta-forms of the sugar. Also hydrolyzes fully acetylated methyl-beta-D-xylopyranoside and methyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside, and the synthetic substrates 2-naphthyl acetate, 4-nitrophenyl acetate, 4-methylumbelliferyl acetate, and phenyl acetate.