(558cg) Growth Curve of Chitinbacter Tainanensis at Elevated Temperature

Chitin, an insoluble linear polymer of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), is a major component of most fungal cell walls, insect exoskeletons and the shells of crustaceans. Derivatives of chitin, including polysaccharides, oligosaccharides and monosaccharides, have been shown to play a role in organogenesis and embryogenesis of invertebrates. They are also the inducers of pathogen-related proteins. GlcNAc is the lubricant of the joints and is the raw pharmaceutics.

A decade before, a new species microorganism, Chitinibacter tainanensis, was isolated from the soil of southern Taiwan. The bacteria can produce N-acetylglucosamine by degrading chitin, and the yield reaches almost 90%. The high purity (99.9%) of N-acetylglucosamine can be conventionally obtained by recrystallization. Such has led to the extremely low cost for generating N-acetylglucosamineand brought great industrial benefits. This process is nominated as biotransformation technique, because the degradation of chitin directly involves the organism, C. tainanensis. It is different from chemical or enzyme reactions, which traditionally generate N-acetylglucosamine. However, the mechanism of protein complex on the surface of C. tainanensis are still unclear. A ghost can be induced with elevated temperature when the bacteria transformed with a plasmid. The gowth curve of C. tainanensis was investigated at elevated temperature for the base of revealing the micro-organism in future.