Chitosan is widely used in films for packaging applications. Chitosan reinforcement by stiff particles or fibers is usually obtained at the expense of lowered ductility and toughness. Here, chitosan film reinforcement by a new type of native chitin nanofibers is reported. Films are prepared by casting from colloidal suspensions of chitin in dissolved chitosan. The nanocomposite films are chitin...

Chitin is an essential structural polysaccharide in fungi that is required for cell shape and morphogenesis. One model for wall synthesis at the growing cell surface suggests that the compliance that is necessary for turgor-driven expansion of the cell wall involves a delicate balance of wall synthesis and lysis. Accordingly, de novo chitin synthesis may involve coordinated regulation of member...

Plants have the ability to detect invading fungi through the perception of chitin fragments released from the fungal cell walls. Plant chitin receptor consists of two types of plasma membrane proteins, CEBiP and CERK1. However, the contribution of these proteins to chitin signaling is different between Arabidopsis and rice. In Arabidopsis, it seems CERK1 receptor kinase is enough for both ligan...

Chitin deacetylase (EC 3.5.1.41) hydrolyzes the N-acetamido groups of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine residues in chitin. A cDNA to the Mucor rouxii mRNA encoding chitin deacetylase was isolated, characterized, and sequenced. Protein sequence comparisons revealed significant similarities of the fungal chitin deacetylase to rhizobial nodB proteins and to an uncharacterized protein encoded by a Bacillus s...

Chitin is a polysaccharide composed from N-acetyl-D-glucosamine units. It is the second most abundant biopolymer on Earth and found mainly in invertebrates, insects, marine diatoms, algae, fungi, and yeasts. Recent investigations confirm the suitability of chitin and its derivatives in chemistry, biotechnology, medicine, veterinary, dentistry, agriculture, food processing, environmental protect...

Chitin derivatives, chitosan and substituted chito-oligosaccharides from fungi present a wide spectrum of applications and they have been studied in many fields such as medicine, cosmetics, agriculture, aquaculture, and food as dietary supplements [1]. Chitin is a copolymer with N-acetyl-D-glucosamine units linked with b(1-4)-glycosidic bonds which provide rigidity to the cell wall in chitinous...

Here we report the detection and localisation of chitin in the cuticle of the spinning ducts of both the spider Nephila edulis and the silkworm Bombyx mori. Our observations demonstrate that the duct walls of both animals contain chitin notwithstanding totally independent evolutionary pathways of the systems. We conclude that chitin may well be an essential component for the construction of spi...

Chitin synthetase was isolated and purified 120-fold from the supernatant fraction (54,500 X g) of broken yeast cells of Mucor rouxii. The purified preparations consisted mainly of chitin synthetase particles (chitosomes) with an average size larger than 7 X 10(6) daltons (by gel filtration) and an average sedimentation coefficient of 105 S. The samples also contained other enzyme complexes (fa...

This study reports the recovery of Pd(II) from acid solution by a polyethylenimine (PEI)-crosslinked chitin (PEI-chitin) biosorbent. FE-SEM analysis demonstrated that there are many slot-like pores on PEI-chitin. The N2 adsorption–desorption experiment revealed average pore size was 47.12 nm. Elemental verified successful crosslinking PEI with raw chitin. Langmuir model better explained isother...

The squid pen (gladius) from the Loligo vulgaris was used for preparation of β-chitin materials characterized by different chemical, micro- and nano-structural properties that preserved, almost completely the macrostructural and the mechanical ones. The β-chitin materials obtained by alkaline treatment showed porosity, wettability and swelling that are a function of the duration of the treatmen...