The Importance of Chitin in the Marine Environment
- 24 May 2011
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Marine Biotechnology
- Vol. 13 (5), 823-830
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-011-9388-1
Abstract
Chitin is the most abundant renewable polymer in the oceans and is an important source of carbon and nitrogen for marine organisms. The process of chitin degradation is a key step in the cycling of nutrients in the oceans and chitinolytic bacteria play a significant role in this process. These bacteria are autochthonous to both marine and freshwater ecosystems and produce chitinases that degrade chitin, an insoluble polysaccharide, to a biologically useful form. In this brief review, a description of the structure of chitin and diversity of chitinolytic bacteria in the oceans is provided, in the context of the significance of chitin degradation for marine life.Keywords
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