Chitobioses are a group of related
disaccharide
A disaccharide (also called a double sugar or ''biose'') is the sugar formed when two monosaccharides are joined by glycosidic linkage. Like monosaccharides, disaccharides are simple sugars soluble in water. Three common examples are sucrose, la ...
s of β-1,4-linked
glucosamine
Glucosamine (C6H13NO5) is an amino sugar and a prominent precursor in the biochemical synthesis of glycosylated proteins and lipids. Glucosamine is part of the structure of two polysaccharides, chitosan and chitin. Glucosamine is one of the most ...
units. The term ''chitobiose'' is sometimes used to refer to different members of the group, depending on the method by which it was first isolated, resulting in some
ambiguity as to which chemical compound the name is referring to.
Chitobiose is the condensed form of 4‐''O''‐(2‐amino‐2‐deoxy‐β‐
D‐glucopyranosyl)‐2‐amino‐2‐deoxy‐
D‐glucose and is an
acetylation disaccharide
A disaccharide (also called a double sugar or ''biose'') is the sugar formed when two monosaccharides are joined by glycosidic linkage. Like monosaccharides, disaccharides are simple sugars soluble in water. Three common examples are sucrose, la ...
found in
chitin. It is formed by the depolymerization of chitin either enzymatically or chemically.
Chitobiose is utilized by ''
Borrelia burgdorferi
''Borrelia burgdorferi'' is a bacterial species of the spirochete class in the genus '' Borrelia'', and is one of the causative agents of Lyme disease in humans. Along with a few similar genospecies, some of which also cause Lyme disease, it mak ...
'' to produce
''N''-acetylglucosamine, a component of the bacterial cell wall, and is regularized by the response regulator rrp1. A mutant strain of rrp1 has been found to cause growth deficits with ''Borrelia burgdorferi''.
In ''
Escherichia coli
''Escherichia coli'' (),Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. also known as ''E. coli'' (), is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus '' Esc ...
'', the chb operon is involved with the utilization of
cellobiose and β-glucosides chitobiose. The chbG gene of the chb Operon encodes a chitooligosaccharide deacetylase. The ''chb'' operon is also responsible for coding the ''ChbR'' regulator, which is responsible for activating transcription when chitobiose is available.
See also
*
Glucosamine
Glucosamine (C6H13NO5) is an amino sugar and a prominent precursor in the biochemical synthesis of glycosylated proteins and lipids. Glucosamine is part of the structure of two polysaccharides, chitosan and chitin. Glucosamine is one of the most ...
*
Lysozyme
Lysozyme (EC 3.2.1.17, muramidase, ''N''-acetylmuramide glycanhydrolase; systematic name peptidoglycan ''N''-acetylmuramoylhydrolase) is an antimicrobial enzyme produced by animals that forms part of the innate immune system. It is a glycoside ...
References
{{Reflist
Amino sugars
Disaccharides