The oligosaccharides derived from carrageenan have been shown to exhibit antitumor, anti viral activity which indicated that oligo-carrageenan could possess significant potential for biomedical and physiological applications (Li et al. Oligo-carrageenan produced by the action of microbial enzymes can be more advantageous than produced by acid hydrolysis because enzymes are highly specific to their substrates and they generate oligo-derivatives are uniform in molecular weights (Yao et al. They all are endohydrolases that cleave the internal β-(1–4) linkages of carrageenans yielding products of the oligo-carrageenans. Enzymes which degrade carrageenans are called k-, ι-, and λ-carrageenases. Microbial enzymes which hydrolyze hydrocolloids have drawn considerable interest recently because enzymatic degraded products of carrageenan is still in infancy compared to that of other hydrocolloids such as agar, alginate etc. These properties allow carrageenans to dissolve in water, form highly viscous solutions, and remain stable over a wide pH range (Ruiter and Rudolph 1997 Yao et al. It exists in different forms depending on the number of sulphate substituents per disaccharide unit: one in κ-carrageenan, two in ι-carrageenan and three in λ-carrageenan. They are a group of biomolecules composed of linear polysaccharide chains with sulphate half-esters attached to the sugar unit. 2016).Ĭarrageenans are commercially important hydrophilic colloids (water soluble gums) which occur as matrix material in numerous species of red seaweeds wherein they serve a structural function analogous to that of cellulose in land plants. Hydrocolloid polysaccharides (agar, alginates and carrageenans) have significant importance, both technologically and economically, since they are used in the various biotechnological industries due to their distinct physico-chemical properties (Knudsen et al. Hydrocolloids can be defined as substances that interact with water to form colloid systems. All the aspects like sources, production conditions, characterization, cloning and- biotechnological applications are summarized. In this review exhaustive information of bacterial carrageenases reported till date has been done. A comprehensive information shall be helpful for the effective understanding and application of these enzymes. They have found potential applications in biomedical field, bioethanol production, textile industry, as a detergent additive and for isolation of protoplast of algae etc. Majority of the marine bacteria produce these enzymes extracellularly and their activity is in wide range of temperature. These enzymes are produced only by bacteria specifically gram negative bacteria. The endo-character and the specificity of the sulfatase made it possible to prepare hybrid κ-/ι-/α-carrageenan and κ-/α-carrageenan starting from κ-/ι-carrageenan.Carrageenan, one of the phycocolloids is a sulfated galactan made up of linear chains of galactose and 3,6-anhydrogalactose with alternating α-(1 → 3) and β-(1 → 4) linkages and further classified based on the number and the position of sulfated ester(s) κ-, ι- and λ-carrageenan. Analysis of the distribution of the carrabiose moieties in hybrid carrageenan chain using enzymatic degradation with Alteromonas fortis ι-carrageenase, coupled with chromatography and NMR spectroscopy experiments, showed that the sulfatase has an endo mode of action. With pure enzyme, ι-carrageenan could be transformed into a hybrid ι-/α-carrageenan or pure α-carrageenan. The sequence of this protein matched the annotated Q15XH3 (Uniprot databank) formylglycine-dependent sulfatase found in the P. To do so, we screened and purified from Pseudoalteromonas atlantica a 4S-iota carrageenan sulfatase that converts ι-carrabiose into α-carrabiose units. Here we aimed to monitor the sulfate composition of gelling carrageenan. However, these functional properties depend strongly on the sulfation of the moieties of the carrabiose repetition unit. These polysaccharides have gelling and texturizing properties that are widely appreciated in industrial applications. Carrageenans are sulfated polysaccharides that are found in the cell walls of red algae.

Iota carrageenan gelling chemistry