Sandbox UNLPam 7

a-L-rhamnosidases (E.C. 3.2.1.40) are found widely distributed in nature and have been reported in animals, plants, yeast, fungi and bacteria, where they are responsible for the cleavage of a-L-rhamnose from a wide range of compounds.1 a-L-rhamnose is found in plants and bacteria as components of polysaccharides, such as pectins,2 and the O antigen polysaccharides, responsible for determining the antigenicity of pathogenic bacteria3; it is also found in rhamnolipids4 and it is attached to small molecule natural products, such as rutin. There is industrial interest in arhamnosidases for use in the debittering of citrus juices and for the release of flavonoids from rhamnosylated precursors; in wine production they play a role in the hydrolysis of glycosylated terpene aroma compounds.