Response surface analysis was used to determine optimum conditions [2% (w/v) chitin, 57.5 degrees C, 38 min] for microwave irradiation of chitin to improve its enzymatic hydrolysis. V(max)/K(m) of cabbage chitinase toward untreated and microwave-irradiated chitin was found to be 21.1 and 31.7 nmol h(-1) mg(-2) mL, respectively. Similar improvement was observed in the case of pectinase in its un...

BACKGROUND Chitin, after cellulose the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature, is an essential component of exoskeletons of crabs, shrimps and insects and protects these organisms from harsh conditions in their environment. Unexpectedly, chitin has been found to activate innate immune cells and to elicit murine airway inflammation. The skin represents the outer barrier of the human host ...

Vibrionaceae are regarded as important marine chitin degraders, and attachment to chitin regulates important biological functions; yet, the degree of chitin pathway conservation in Vibrionaceae is unknown. Here, a core chitin degradation pathway is proposed based on comparison of 19 Vibrio and Photobacterium genomes with a detailed metabolic map assembled for V. cholerae from published biochemi...

Tissue engineering utilizes cells and synthetic matrices to create new tissues. Living cells are anchorage dependent and will die if they are not provided with an adhesion substrate. Man-made scaffolds are designed to provide a structural framework for the selected cells and to facilitate the formation of new tissues. Matrix structure of the scaffold should be connective together with high poro...

Candida albicans has three genes encoding chitin synthase enzymes. In wild-type strains, the expression of CHS2 and CHS3 peaked 1-2 h after the induction of hyphal growth, whilst mRNA levels in a non-germinative strain, CA2, remained low under the same conditions. CHS1 gene expression did not peak during germ tube formation but remained at low levels in both yeast and hyphal growth. The pattern...

Chitin proteins are commonly found in bacteria that utilize chitin as a source of energy. CBP21 is a chitin-binding protein from Serratia marcescens, a Gram-negative soil bacterium capable of efficient chitin degradation. When grown on chitin, S. marcescens secretes large amounts of CBP21, along with chitin-degrading enzymes. In an attempt to understand the molecular mechanism of CBP21 action, ...

Alkali- or acid-induced structural modifications in β-chitin from squid (Dosidicus gigas, d'Orbigny, 1835) pens and their moisture absorption ability (MAA) and deacetylating reaction were investigated and compared with α-chitin from shrimp shells. β-Chitin was converted into the α-form after 3h in 40% NaOH or 1-3 h in 40% HCl solution, and α-chitin obtained from NaOH treatment had higher MAA th...

This paper describes a comparative study using different chromatographic supports (fully N-acetylated chitin, chitin and silica gel) to separate the flavonoids swertisin and 2"-O-rhamnosylswertisin from Aleurites moluccana. The results show that the flavonoids have apparently been separated by the hydrogen bond between the stationary phase (chitin and chitin-100) and flavonoids under the condit...

Novel, functional materials based on chitin of marine origin and lignin were prepared. The synthesized materials were subjected to physicochemical, dispersive-morphological and electrokinetic analysis. The results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method of synthesis of functional chitin/lignin materials. Mechanism of chitin modification by lignin is based on formation of hydrogen bonds...

Chitin is the second most common polysaccharide occurring in nature (Tsujibo et al., 1998; Brurberg et al., 2000) and is one of the main structural components of the outer skeleton of insects and crustaceans (Huang et al., 1996; Schlegel, 1996) being at the same time the exoskeleton of coelenterates, platyhelminthes, protozoans, mollusks and in the cell wall of many fungi (Suzuki et al., 1998)....