The enzymic hydrolysis of carrageenin.

Carrageenin is the water soluble polysaccharide extractable from the red algae Chondrus crispus and Gigartina stellata. The polysaccharide is essentially a polymer of alpha-D-galactopyranoside-4-sulphate. Smith et al. (1954) fractionated carrageenin with potassium chloride into two components and obtained a precipitable component which could form gels and a nongelling component which remained in solution. The former was designated kappa-carrageenin and the latter lambda-carrageenin. Smith, O'Neill, Perlin, and Cook (personal communication) found that these fractions differ in their content of D-anhydrogalactose. Mori (1943a) demonstrated a hydrolase in marine molluscs which degraded the mucilage from Chondrus ocellatus. The bacterial decomposition of carrageenin has been commonly recognized but this has not been related to any particular organism or enzyme. The purpose of the work to be described was to attempt to isolate and characterize a bacterial carrageenase.