Main description:

There are several books on properties of chitin and associated biomolecules and their biochemical significance. However, the present volume deals with a wide variety of biogeochemical and organic geochemical aspects of this vital macromolecule written by leading authors and experts in the field. Each chapter is carefully peer reviewed and is an updated account of recent research in isotopic, nanostructural, biochemical, microstructural, geochemical, paleontological and experimental aspects of chitin formation, distribution and preservation in the environment and earth history.

Contents:

1. Chitin nanostructures in living organisms
Riccardo A.A. Muzzarelli

2. Chitin in the exoskeletons of Arthropoda: From ancient design to novel materials science
H. Fabritius, C. Sachs, D. Raabe, S. Nikolov, M. Friak, and J. Neugebauer

3. Radiocarbon Dating of Chitin
Jennifer A. Tripp, and Thomas F. G. Higham

4. Carbon, nitrogen and oxygen stable isotope ratios in chitin
Arndt Schimmelmann

5. Hydrogen Isotopes in Beetle Chitin
Darren R. Grocke, Maarten van Hardenbroek, Peter Sauer, and Scott Elias

6. Identification and characterization of chitin in organisms
Neal S.Gupta and George D. Cody

7. Fate of chitinous organisms in the geosphere
Neal S. Gupta and Roger E. Summons

8. Transformation of chitinous tissues in elevated Presssure-Temperature conditions: additional insights from experiments on plant tissues.
Neal S. Gupta