Amylases

There are three types of amylases: alpha, beta, and gamma. All can be present in bacteria, although they each have preferred environments. Alpha amylase is a major digestive enzyme in animals and works optimally at a pH of 6.7-7.0. Beta amylase is present in fruit and microbes. Gamma amylase is best in environments with a pH of around 3.0.

In H. utahensis, I found both alpha and gamma amylases. Alpha amylase is from bps 1748453-1750477. A BLAST of this DNA segment with proteins in NCBI's database matches it to an alpha amylase from Haloquadratum walsbyi with an e-value of 7x10^-172. Gamma amylase is from bps 1751071-1755111. A BLAST of this DNA segment with NCBI's protein database matches it to a glucoamylase (another name for gamma amylase) from Haloarcula marismortui with an e-value of 0.0. Despite these findings, the RAST KEGG Pathway annotation did not identify any amylase genes. Here is an image of the KEGG pathway annotation. Enzymes identified are in boxes with a green background. Amylase genes are boxed in red. Alpha amylase is 3.2.1.1 and gamma amylase is 3.2.1.3.