Wild-type Pyrococcus furiosus is most likely unable to grow on chitin in the natural biotope due to a nucleotide insertion which separates the chitinase gene into two ORFs, whereas a genetically engineered strain with the deleted nucleotide is able to grow on chitin. In the latest studies, the recombinant enzyme activity against the crystal chitins was examined. But there are still some conflic...

A novel chitin-degrading aerobe, Chitinibacter tainanensis, was isolated from a soil sample from southern Taiwan, and was proved to produce N-acetyl glucosamine (NAG). Chitin degrading factors (CDFs) were proposed to be the critical factors to degrade chitin in this work. When C. tainanensis was incubated with chitin, CDFs were induced and chitin was converted to NAG. CDFs were found to be loca...

This paper provides an overview of the most up-to-date information available relating to chitin nanowhiskers. This paper presents aspects about chitin nanowhiskers, including methods of extraction and preparation, chemical modification and applications. Chitin nanowhiskers can be obtained by hydrochloric acid hydrolysis, TEMPO-mediated oxidation, partial deacetylation with NaOH by fibril surfac...

Biowaste originating from aquaculture sector represents a potential feedstock to produce value-added substances and materials like chitin chitosan. They are the long chain polymers of N-acetylglucosamine with huge industrial biomedical significance. Chitin has been recognized as useful biomaterial for drug delivery neurological therapy. Similarly, chitosan oligosaccharide, short polymer derived...

A chitinase antigen has been identified in Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain 385 using sera from animals immunized with a whole-cell vaccine. The majority of the activity was shown to be in the cytoplasm, with some activity in the membrane fraction. The chitinase was not secreted into the culture medium. Purification of the enzyme was achieved by exploiting its binding to crab shell chitin. The pur...

Preparation of Phenolic nanocomposites with the help of solvent casting technique was carried out by dispersing the chitin nano particles in water soluble phenol formaldehyde (PF). The nanocomposites were prepared by using water suspended chitin whisker as the reinforced phase and water soluble phenol formaldehyde (PF) as matrix. In the present work, crab shell originated chitin whisker was pro...

Chitin nano-fibers with positive and negative charges have been, respectively, produced from partially deacetylated and 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical (TEMPO)-mediated oxidized α-chitin. The average diameters and lengths of the TEMPO-oxidized chitin nano-fibers (TOChN) were 14 ± 4.3 and 190 ± 140 nm, respectively, and the average diameters and lengths of the partially deacetylated...

Dispersions of colloidal particles in aqueous media are widely investigated because of their use in many industrial applications (foods, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, paints, etc.). Acid-hydrolyzed chitin has been reported to spontaneously disperse into colloidal rod-like crystalline particles, which can form rigid structures. Such colloidal dispersions of acid-degraded chitin can undergo an isot...

Chitin is an essential structural polysaccharide of fungal pathogens and parasites, but its role in human immune responses remains largely unknown. It is the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature after cellulose and its derivatives today are widely used for medical and industrial purposes. We analysed the immunological properties of purified chitin particles derived from the opportunist...

The intermolecular interactions involved in oligosaccharide-protein recognition, binding and cleavage are complex. Elucidation of these complex interactions is important in order to understand the biochemical role these proteins play. Fluorescence spectroscopy is a very good method to study the binding between a substrate and receptor. A non-native form (E315L) of the Family 18 Chitinase from t...