Hettle et al. investigate the ability of marine Pseudoalteromonas sp. to metabolise carrageenan, a polysaccharide abundant in red algae. They isolate and characterise previously unstudied strains and find that the recently identified κ/ι-carrageenan specific polysaccharide utilization locus (CarPUL) is required for growth on carrageenan, and biochemically map out many of the steps.
- Andrew G. Hettle
- Joanne K. Hobbs
- Alisdair B. Boraston