Analysis of the degradation potential of chitin by marine bacteria

Abstract

Chitin is the most abundant biological resource in the ocean, with an extremely high annual output. Its degradation products play an important role in fields such as medicine and the food industry. The traditional degradation methods of chitin cause serious waste of resources and have a high degree of environmental pollution. However, biodegradation is green, environmentally friendly and highly specific, and thus has attracted the attention of many scholars. In marine ecosystems, many microorganisms can degrade chitin by secreting glycoside hydrolase, and the products are chitin oligosaccharides or monosaccharides. Among them, marine bacteria are the main players in degrading chitin, and the contribution of Pseudoalteromonas is particularly significant. This article takes Pseudoalteromonas sp. M58 as the research object and conducts sequencing and comprehensive analysis of its genome. The sequencing results show that the genome contains one complete circular chromosome with a length of 3604,843 bp and one circular plasmid with a length of 824,954 bp, with a total of 3,929 coding genes. In the coding sequences, 2,740 (69.7%), 3,073 (78.2%), and 3,514 (89.4%) genes were classified in the GO, COG, and KEGG databases, respectively. The alignment results with the protein sequences of the reported genes indicated that the strain P. sp. M58 contained a series of enzymes and proteins related to chitin degradation and transmembrane transport, suggesting that P. sp. M58 has the potential to degrade chitin. This thesis enriches the research results on chitin degradation by Pseudoalteromonas, and is of great significance for the effective utilization of chitin resources.