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The Ecology of Chitin Degradation

  • Chapter
Advances in Microbial Ecology

Part of the book series: Advances in Microbial Ecology ((AMIE,volume 11))

Abstract

Chitin is the (1→4)-β-linked homopolymer of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (Fig. 1). The individual polymer chains can be thought of as helices, as each sugar unit is inverted with respect to its neighbors. This leads to their stabilization as rigid ribbons by 03—H … 05 and 06—H … 07 hydrogen bonds. The commonest form of chitin is α-chitin. Its unit cell is of two N,N‵-diacetylchitobiose units of two chains in an antiparallel arrangement. Thus, adjacent polymer chains run in opposite directions, held together by 06—H … 06 hydrogen bonds, and the chains are held in sheets by 07 … H—N hydrogen bonds (Minke and Blackwell, 1978). This gives a statistical mixture of CH2OH orientations, equivalent to half oxygens on each residue, each forming inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonds. This results in two types of amide groups; all are involved in the interchain C=O … H—N bonds, while half of the groups also serve as acceptors for 06—H … O=C intramolecular bonds. This extensive intermolecular hydrogen bonding leads to a very stable structure, the individual polymer chains eventually giving rise to microfibrils if allowed to crystallize (Gooday, 1983). A less common form of chitin is β-chitin, in which the unit cell is of one N,N‵diacetylchitobiose unit, giving a polymer stabilized as a rigid ribbon, as for α-chitin, by 03—H … 05 intramolecular bonds (Gardner and Blackwell, 1975). Chains are then held together in sheets by C=O … H—N hydrogen bonding of the amide groups and by the CH2OH side chains, forming intersheet hydrogen bonds to the carbonyl oxygens on the next chains (06—H … 07). This gives a structure of parallel poly-N-acetylglucosamine chains with no intersheet hydrogen bonds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics and Microbiology, Marischal College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB9 1AS, Scotland

    Graham W. Gooday

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  1. Graham W. Gooday
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  1. University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia

    K. C. Marshall

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© 1990 Plenum Press, New York

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Gooday, G.W. (1990). The Ecology of Chitin Degradation. In: Marshall, K.C. (eds) Advances in Microbial Ecology. Advances in Microbial Ecology, vol 11. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-7612-5_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-7612-5_10

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