The hypothesized degradation pathway of chondroitin sulfate A by <i>T</i>. <i>forsythia</i>.

Bfo2291 was predicted to be a putative chondroitin sulfate lyase that degrades linear polymers of chondroitin-4-sulfate into its unsaturated disaccharide subunits by cleaving the 1,4 glycosidic linkage between N-acetyl-D-galactosamine and glucuronic acid. Bfo2290 subsequently was hypothesized to be a chondroitin-4-sulfate which removes the O4 sulfate moiety allowing Bfo2285, a putative unsaturated chondroitin hydrolase, to break it down further into its monosaccharide constituents by breaking the 1,3 glycosidic linkage between glucuronic acid and N-acetyl-D-galactosamine.