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For instance, the cell walls of oomycetes are composed of cellulose rather than chitin [12] and generally do not have septations. Also, in the vegetative state they have diploid nuclei, whereas fungi have haploid nuclei. Most oomycetes produce self-motile zoospores with two flagella. One flagellum has a "whiplash" morphology, and the other a ...
These ubiquitous and cosmopolitan organisms are responsible for decomposition of refractory materials, such as pollen, cellulose, chitin, and keratin. [ 7 ] [ 4 ] There are also chytrids that live and grow on pollen by attaching threadlike structures, called rhizoids, onto the pollen grains. [ 34 ]
Chitin-glucan complex (CGC) is a copolymer (polysaccharide) that makes up fungal cell walls, consisting of covalently-bonded chitin and branched 1,3/1,6-ß-D-glucan. CGCs are alkaline - insoluble . Different species of fungi have different structural compositions of chitin and β-glucan making up the CGCs in their cell walls. [ 1 ]
Unlike fungi, oomycetes typically possess cell walls of cellulose and glucans rather than chitin, although some genera (such as Achlya and Saprolegnia) do have chitin in their walls. [34] The fraction of cellulose in the walls is no more than 4 to 20%, far less than the fraction of glucans. [34]
The fungal cell wall is made of a chitin-glucan complex; while glucans are also found in plants and chitin in the exoskeleton of arthropods, [36] fungi are the only organisms that combine these two structural molecules in their cell wall. Unlike those of plants and oomycetes, fungal cell walls do not contain cellulose. [37] [38]
To degrade cellulose, basidiomycetes employ hydrolytic enzymes, such as endoglucanases, cellobiohydrolase and β-glucosidase. [33] Production of endoglucanases is widely distributed among fungi and cellobiohydrolases have been isolated in multiple white-rot fungi and in plant pathogens.
Chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature (behind only cellulose); an estimated 1 billion tons of chitin are produced each year in the biosphere. [1] It is a primary component of cell walls in fungi (especially filamentous and mushroom-forming fungi), the exoskeletons of arthropods such as crustaceans and insects, the radulae ...
Like cellulose, chitin is an abundant biopolymer that is relatively resistant to degradation. [17] Many mammals can digest chitin and the specific chitinase levels in vertebrate species are adapted to their feeding behaviours. [18] Certain fish are able to digest chitin. [19] Chitinases have been isolated from the stomachs of mammals, including ...