I am interested in the protein moiety of chitin.
I am aware of the following:
(1) Chitin from the Vella lata float is approximately 50/50
N-acetylglucosamine-protein.
(2) In this animal it occurs as an extra-cellular topologically continuous
surface laid down in some biological cycle as laminar sheets.
(3) Essentially the same system of structural usage occurs in the octopus
and squid "pens".
(4) The protein separates from the carbohydrate cleanly in 0.0001N NaOH when
naturally ocurring chitin from these animals is dried and ground
to 800 mesh or finer in a puck mill. (AA analyzer results)
(5) There is a complete enzyme system for both synthesis and hydrolysis.
Has anyone analyzed the protein moiety of chitin?
With warm regards,
Ralph Gainey
_________________________________________________________________________
***Do not take me so seriously, infringing as it does
on my freedom to vacilate, and even turn about.***
loosely attributed to Anonymous, the elder
pretender to the crown of Rome and the Tiber-
ian marsh meadows
