Identification and first insights into the structure and biosynthesis of chitin from the freshwater sponge Spongilla lacustris

Hermann Ehrlich; Oksana V Kaluzhnaya; Eike Brunner; Mikhail V Tsurkan; Alexander Ereskovsky; Micha Ilan; Konstantin R Tabachnick; Vasilii V Bazhenov; Silvia Paasch; Martin Kammer; René Born; Allison Stelling; Roberta Galli; Sergei Belikov; Olga V Petrova; Victor V Sivkov; Denis Vyalikh; Sebastian Hunoldt; Gert Wörheide

doi:10.1016/j.jsb.2013.06.015

Identification and first insights into the structure and biosynthesis of chitin from the freshwater sponge Spongilla lacustris

J Struct Biol. 2013 Sep;183(3):474-483. doi: 10.1016/j.jsb.2013.06.015. Epub 2013 Jul 4.

Authors

Hermann Ehrlich¹, Oksana V Kaluzhnaya², Eike Brunner³, Mikhail V Tsurkan⁴, Alexander Ereskovsky⁵, Micha Ilan⁶, Konstantin R Tabachnick⁷, Vasilii V Bazhenov⁸, Silvia Paasch³, Martin Kammer³, René Born⁹, Allison Stelling¹⁰, Roberta Galli¹⁰, Sergei Belikov¹¹, Olga V Petrova¹², Victor V Sivkov¹², Denis Vyalikh¹³, Sebastian Hunoldt³, Gert Wörheide¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Experimental Physics, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, 09599 Freiberg, Germany; Institute of Bioanalytical Chemistry, TU Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany. Electronic address: hermann.ehrlich@physik.tu-freiberg.de.
² Limnological Institute SB RAS, 664033 Irkutsk, Russia; Institute of Bioanalytical Chemistry, TU Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany.
³ Institute of Bioanalytical Chemistry, TU Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany.
⁴ Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research & Max Bergmann Centre for Biomaterials, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
⁵ Mediterranean Institute of Biodiversity and Ecology, CNRS, IRD, Aix-Marseille University, 13007 Marseille, France.
⁶ Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
⁷ P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
⁸ Institute of Experimental Physics, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, 09599 Freiberg, Germany.
⁹ Institute of Materials Science, TU Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
¹⁰ Carl-Gustav-Carus Klinikum, TU Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany.
¹¹ Limnological Institute SB RAS, 664033 Irkutsk, Russia.
¹² Department of Mathematics Komi SC UrD RAS, Syktyvkar, Russia.
¹³ Institute of Solid State Physics, TU Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
¹⁴ Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Palaeontology & Geobiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333 München, Germany; GeoBio-Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333 München, Germany; Bayerische Staatssammlungen für Paläontologie und Geologie, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333 München, Germany. Electronic address: woerheide@lmu.de.

PMID: 23831449
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsb.2013.06.015

Abstract

This work demonstrates that chitin is an important structural component within the skeletal fibers of the freshwater sponge Spongilla lacustris. Using a variety of analytical techniques ((13)C solid state NMR, FT-IR, Raman, NEXAFS, ESI-MS, Morgan-Elson assay and Calcofluor White Staining); we show that this sponge chitin is much closer to α-chitin, known to be present in other animals, than to β-chitin. Genetic analysis confirmed the presence of chitin synthases, which are described for the first time in a sponge. The presence of chitin in both marine (demosponges and hexactinellids) and freshwater sponges indicates that this important structural biopolymer was already present in their common ancestor.

Keywords: Bioanalytics; Chitin; Chitin synthase; Skeleton; Sponges.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Acetylglucosamine / metabolism
Amino Acid Motifs
Amino Acid Sequence
Animals
Chitin / biosynthesis*
Chitin / chemistry
Chitin Synthase / chemistry
Chitin Synthase / genetics
Cloning, Molecular
Molecular Sequence Data
Porifera / genetics
Porifera / metabolism*
Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization
Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy

Substances

Chitin
Chitin Synthase
Acetylglucosamine