A polysaccharide utilization locus from Flavobacterium johnsoniae enables conversion of recalcitrant chitin.
Larsbrink, J., Zhu, Y., Kharade, S.S., Kwiatkowski, K.J., Eijsink, V.G., Koropatkin, N.M., McBride, M.J., Pope, P.B.(2016) Biotechnol Biofuels 9: 260-260
- PubMed: 27933102 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-016-0674-z
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
5J5U, 5J90 - PubMed Abstract: 
Chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide on earth and as such a great target for bioconversion applications. The phylum Bacteroidetes is one of nature's most ubiquitous bacterial lineages and is essential in the global carbon cycle with many members being highly efficient degraders of complex carbohydrates. However, despite their specialist reputation in carbohydrate conversion, mechanisms for degrading recalcitrant crystalline polysaccharides such as chitin and cellulose are hitherto unknown.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), 1432 Ås, Norway ; Wallenberg Wood Science Center, Division of Industrial Biotechnology, Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden.