Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
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 ...
The production and degradation of chitin must be balanced. Depending on the pH, temperature, and abundance of these organisms determines the chitin degradation rate. Since it is biodegradable because of organisms such as T. chitonophagus, has been employed in new nanotechnology, which involves polymer scaffold creation. [4]
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 ]
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]
As chitin is a component of the cell walls of fungi and exoskeletal elements of some animals (including mollusks and arthropods), chitinases are generally found in organisms that either need to reshape their own chitin [2] or dissolve and digest the chitin of fungi or animals.
Gnathifera (from the Greek gnáthos, “jaw”, and the Latin-fera, “bearing”) is a clade of generally small spiralians characterized by complex jaws made of chitin.It comprises the phyla Gnathostomulida, Rotifera and Micrognathozoa. [1]
In some organisms the mineral content may exceed 95%. The role of the chitin and proteins in such structures is more than just holding the crystals together; the crystal structure itself is so affected as to prevent the propagation of cracks under stress, leading to remarkable strength. [10]
The name chiton is Neo-Latin derived from the Ancient Greek word khitōn, meaning tunic (which also is the source of the word chitin). The Ancient Greek word khitōn can be traced to the Central Semitic word *kittan , which is from the Akkadian words kitû or kita'um , meaning flax or linen, and originally the Sumerian word gada or gida .