Cell wall The primary cell wall of land plants is composed of the polysaccharides cellulose, hemicelluloses and pectin. Often, other polymers such as lignin, suberin or cutin are anchored to or embedded in plant cell walls. Algae possess cell walls made of glycoproteins and polysaccharides such as carrageenan and agar that are absent from land plants. In bacteria, the cell wall is composed of peptidoglycan. The cell walls of archaea have various compositions, and may be formed of glycoprotein S-layers, pseudopeptidoglycan, or polysaccharides. Fungi possess cell walls made of the N-acetylglucosamine polymer chitin. Unusually, diatoms have a cell wall composed of biogenic
Xylanase Xylanase Xylanase (, "endo-(1->4)-beta-xylan 4-xylanohydrolase", "endo-1,4-xylanase", "endo-1,4-beta-xylanase", "beta-1,4-xylanase", "endo-1,4-beta-D-xylanase", "1,4-beta-xylan xylanohydrolase", "beta-xylanase", "beta-1,4-xylan xylanohydrolase", "beta-D-xylanase") is the name given to a class of enzymes which degrade the linear polysaccharide beta-1,4-xylan into xylose, thus breaking down hemicellulose, one of the major components of plant cell walls. As such, it plays a major role in micro-organisms thriving on plant sources for the degradation of plant matter into usable nutrients. Xylanases are produced by fungi, bacteria, yeast, marine algae, protozoans, snails, crustaceans, insect, seeds, etc., (mammals do not produce xylanases). However, the principal commercial source of xylanases is filamentous fungi. Commercial applications for