title: Chitosan nanofiber production from Drosophila by electrospinning.
abstract: Drosophila melanogaster is one of the important test organisms in genetics thanks to its fast growth rate in a culture. This study demonstrates that the fly D. melanogaster can also be exploited as a source for nanofiber production in biotechnical applications. First, its chitin content was determined (7.85%) and then high molecular weight chitosan (141.4kDa) was synthesized through deacetylation of chitin isolates. Chitosan nanofibers with the diameter of 40.0073±12.347nm were produced by electrospinning of Drosophila chitosan. The physicochemical properties of obtained chitin and chitosan from D. melanogaster were determined by Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). The study demonstrated that the fly D. melanogaster can be utilized for production of chitosan nanofiber concerning its cultivability and low-cost culture requirements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Aksaray University, 68100 Aksaray, Turkey. Electronic address: muratkaya3806@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Aksaray University, 68100 Aksaray, Turkey.
authors.forename: Bahar
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Akyuz
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Aksaray University, 68100 Aksaray, Turkey.
authors.forename: Esra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bulut
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Aksaray University, 68100 Aksaray, Turkey.
authors.forename: Idris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sargin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Aksaray University, 68100 Aksaray, Turkey.
authors.forename: Fatma
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Eroglu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Aksaray University, 68100 Aksaray, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gamze
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D048271:Chitosan
keywords: Chitin; Chitosan; Insect