Sa. Shaikh et Mv. Deshpande, CHITINOLYTIC ENZYMES - THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO BASIC AND APPLIED-RESEARCH, World journal of microbiology & biotechnology, 9(4), 1993, pp. 468-475
After cellulose, chitin is the second most abundant renewable resource
available in nature. Marine invertebrates and fungal biomass are the
two main sources of chitinous waste, which is commercially exploited.
The enzymes involved in chitin degradation have been particularly well
studied. Such enzymes have applications in ultrastructural studies, i
n the preparation of chitooligosaccharides which show anti-tumour acti
vity, as biocontrol agents and in single-cell protein production. Here
, the contribution chitin enzymology can make to basic and applied res
earch is discussed.