Carbonic anhydrases (CA) are zinc-containing enzymes that catalyze the reversible hydration of carbon dioxide in a two-step mechanism in which the nucleophilic attack of a zinc-bound hydroxide ion on carbon dioxide is followed by the regeneration of an active site by ionization of the zinc-bound water molecule and removal of a proton from the active site. CAs are ubiquitous enzymes involved in fundamental processes like photosynthesis, respiration, pH homeostasis and ion transport. There are three evolutionarily distinct families of CAs (the alpha-, beta-, and gamma-CAs) which show no significant sequence identity or structural similarity. Within the beta-CA family there are four evolutionarily distinct clades (A through D). The beta-CAs are multimeric enzymes (forming dimers,tetramers,hexamers and octamers) which are present in higher plants, algae, fungi, archaea and prokaryotes.
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