Patterns of Microbially Driven Carbon Cycling in the Ocean: Links between Extracellular Enzymes and Microbial Communities
Figure 1
Schematic depiction of organic matter degradation by a microbial cell, which has produced endo-acting (mid-chain cleaving) and exo-acting (terminal-unit cleaving) extracellular enzymes to hydrolyze a high molecular weight substrate to sizes sufficiently small to be taken into the cell. The dark patch on the cell surface represents a microbial porin (channel for uptake of lower molecular weight hydrolysis product).