Abstract: A novel chitinolytic and chitosanolytic bacterium, Sphingomonas sp. CJ-5, has been isolated and characterized. It secretes both chitinase and chitosanase into surrounding medium in response to chitin or chitosan induction. To characterize the enzymes, both chitinase and chitosanase were purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, Sephadex G-200 gel filtration and DEAE-Sepharose Fast Flow. SDS-PAGE analysis demonstrated molecular masses of chitinase and chitosanase were 230 kDa and 45 kDa respectively. The optimum hydrolysis conditions for chitinase were about pH 7.0 and 36 °C, and these for chitosanase were pH 6.5 and 56 °C, respectively. Both enzymes were quite stable up to 45 °C for one hour at pH 5~8. These results show that CJ-5 may have potential for industrial application particularly in recycling of chitin wastes.

Key words: Sphingomonas sp., Chitinase, Chitosanase

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