The Structural Biology of Catalase Evolution

Catalases are essential enzymes for removal of hydrogen peroxide, enabling aerobic and anaerobic metabolism in an oxygenated atmosphere. Monofunctional heme catalases, catalase-peroxidases, and manganese catalases, evolved independently more than two billion years ago, constituting a classic example of convergent evolution. Herein, the diversity of catalase sequences is analyzed through sequence similarity networks, providing the context for sequence distribution of major catalase families, and showing that many divergent catalase families remain to be experimentally studied.