THE ACTIVITIES OF ENZYMES ON DECOMPOSITION OF REFRACTORY ORGANIC MATTER IN THE FRESHWATER SYSTEMS.
Keywords:
Enzymes, aquatic macrophytes, decomposition, particulate organic matter.Abstract
The present review aimed at analyzing the dynamics of refractory particulate organic matter (POM) of the decomposition of aquatic macrophytes plants and lignocellulosic residues, and of enzymes associated with this process. The chemical changes to POM by the osmotrophic metabolism of heterotrophic microorganisms in lentic and lotic environments are paramount to carbon and nutrients cycles dynamics and also to general energy flow in aquatic ecosystems. POM is chiefly made of lignocellulosic compounds: cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose. These substances are degraded by specific hydrolytic enzymes that break POM into smaller molecules that can be incorporated by the heterotrophic organisms -- fungi and bacteria -- responsible for recycling matter in aquatic environments.
