"Identify the molecule" league #32. Prize: knowledge + 5 Hive + 100 STEM + 100 CCC + 100 PAL + 200 TMN

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(Edited)

This contest is an attempt to promote scientific knowledge among community in a fun and interesting way with the help of molecules.
Some people like to travel around the world and tell others stories about what happens outside of our organisms/cells in other countries.
And with “Identify the molecule” contest you can try to travel inside our own organism/cells and cells of the organisms around us.

Important
In order to get TMN, you’ll need to have NEO-wallet and provide me your public NEO-address.
If you don’t have it yet, don’t worry, I published a post on how/where to get it (O3 wallet).
Note that NEO-addresses provided by exchanges will not work in this case (+ it's safer NOT to keep your funds on exchanges). It's highly recommended to get O3 wallet.

For more information about this contest and its rules (especially if you're new to it) read

"Identify the molecule" contest. Upgrade (the league, additional bonuses and more)

and

"Identify the molecule" league #30. Prize: knowledge + 5 Hive + 100 STEM + 100 CCC + 100 PAL + 200 TMN

If there’re no winners on any stage, the bonuses will be distributed equally among all users who provided any guesses for molecules.


Riddle

It's enough to guess the molecule family name in this case.
The substrate for this enzyme mostly can be found in shells of crustaceans, cell walls of fungi, yeast, algae, and in the exoskeleton of insects.
The enzymes are glycosyl hydrolases and contribute to maintaining the balance between carbon and nitrogen in the ecosystem.
They are present in a number of organisms like bacteria, fungi, arthropods, yeasts, plants, and humans. In this case, they are most likely a part of the defense systems against fungal and invertebrate attack. So, they are one of the reasons why bananas, kiwifruit (with significant level this enzyme) don't go bad/spoil.
However, they also can be used by pathogenes to cause animal and human diseases.

riddle_32.png

(Surface representation. The image was created by me with the help of PyMol - open source tool for molecular visualization/exploration. PDB-file was obtained from PDB)

The enzyme is gaining popularity in agriculture fields to control pathogens, in medicine, and food industry.

riddle_32_cartoon.png

(Cartoon representation. The image was created by me with the help of PyMol - open source tool for molecular visualization/exploration. PDB-file was obtained from PDB)

"Edited"

The substrate of this enzyme is the 2nd most abundant polysaccharide (after cellulose) in nature.

In English the molecule’s name consists of 9 letters (with “h” being the 2nd one):
riddle_32_cells.png

Rules

This contest lasts for 6 days.

Leave your guess (1 guess only (not 2 or 3+)) in the comments section of the post.

Don’t edit your comment/Don't delete or add new comments with the answers and don’t provide any evidence that your answer is correct.

The first user with correct answer is the winner.

Some of the clues have already been provided in the post.

Additional clues will be given Wednesday (20:00 ± 15 minutes UTC) (I’ll update this post).

The reason is that some people might need less information to make conclusions that the others.

Additional clues will be added at the end of the "Riddle" section before the "Rules" section with "Edited" label.

The winner will be announced on Friday, August 7, 2020, 20:00 ± 15 minutes UTC in the comments section of the next post. Plus I’ll publish a detailed review of the riddle after a while.

I’ll transfer the tokens (STEM + Hive + TMN + CCC + PAL) (if the winner provides me his/her NEO-address) to the winner on that day and add the transaction ID in the comments section.

I’m planning to run this contest every week.
So, you should expect to see the 2nd week’s riddle for August on Saturday, August 8, 2020, 20:00 ± 15 minutes UTC.

References

I’ll add all the references for this post later, because most of them contain the name of the molecule.
That would be a spoiler.
I’ll add them after a while.

Important

This contest is the work in progress.
A lot can be changed in the future.
Any recommendations/suggestions are very welcome.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section.

All images (without the license specified) are used under the doctrine known in USA as "Fair Use" (similar doctrines are used in other countries). For more information visit the US Gov website



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6 comments
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I think Lysozyme could be our molecule!

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hi
the right answer is Chitinase
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitinase

I admit that Lysozyme fits with the description provided in the riddle
pretty good as well (like "...a part of the defense systems against fungal and invertebrate attack").

Anyway, you were the only participant this time,
so you'll get the bonus.

just sent you 100 STEM, 100 CCC, 100 PAL & 5 Hive

https://he.dtools.dev/@alexbiojs
https://peakd.com/@alexbiojs/wallet

and 200 TMN
https://neoscan.io/transaction/5446b299c896b337587fc001b8fe4e8ad31a8ff829a53182433c8916447a553e

thanks for your interest )

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the right answer is Chitinase

Aaah! I hadn't even thought about it. What a pity. Maybe next time it will be better!

Thank you very much :) :) It's always a pleasure to take part in your chemistry contests.
Greetings <3

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