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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2004, p. 6977-6983, Vol. 70, No. 12
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.12.6977-6983.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Chitinase Gene Sequences Retrieved from Diverse Aquatic Habitats Reveal Environment-Specific Distributions

Gary R. LeCleir,1 Alison Buchan,2 and James T. Hollibaugh1*

Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia,1 Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut2

Received 8 May 2004/ Accepted 20 July 2004

Chitin is an abundant biopolymer whose degradation is mediated primarily by bacterial chitinases. We developed a degenerate PCR primer set to amplify a ~900-bp fragment of family 18, group I chitinase genes and used it to retrieve these gene fragments from environmental samples. Clone libraries of presumptive chitinase genes were created for nine water and six sediment samples from 10 aquatic environments including freshwater and saline lakes, estuarine water and sediments, and the central Arctic Ocean. Putative chitinase sequences were also retrieved from the Sargasso Sea metagenome sequence database. We were unable to obtain PCR product with these primers from an alkaline, hypersaline lake (Mono Lake, California). In total, 108 partial chitinase gene sequences were analyzed, with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 13 chitinase sequences obtained from each library. All chitinase sequences were novel compared to previously identified sequences. Intralibrary sequence diversity was low, while we found significant differences between libraries from different water column samples and between water column and sediment samples. However, identical sequences were retrieved from samples collected at widely distributed locations that did not necessarily represent similar environments, suggesting homogeneity of chitinoclastic communities between some environments.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-3636. Phone: (706) 542-5868. Fax: (706) 542-5888. E-mail: aquadoc{at}uga.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2004, p. 6977-6983, Vol. 70, No. 12
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.12.6977-6983.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Fisher, J. C., Hollibaugh, J. T. (2008). Selenate-Dependent Anaerobic Arsenite Oxidation by a Bacterium from Mono Lake, California. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 2588-2594 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hunt, D. E., Gevers, D., Vahora, N. M., Polz, M. F. (2008). Conservation of the Chitin Utilization Pathway in the Vibrionaceae. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 44-51 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Poretsky, R. S., Bano, N., Buchan, A., LeCleir, G., Kleikemper, J., Pickering, M., Pate, W. M., Moran, M. A., Hollibaugh, J. T. (2005). Analysis of Microbial Gene Transcripts in Environmental Samples. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 4121-4126 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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