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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2005, p. 5138-5144, Vol. 71, No. 9
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.9.5138-5144.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

New Chitosan-Degrading Strains That Produce Chitosanases Similar to ChoA of Mitsuaria chitosanitabida

ChoongSoo Yun, Daiki Amakata, Yasuhiro Matsuo, Hideyuki Matsuda, and Makoto Kawamukai*

Department of Life Science and Biotechnology, Faculty of Life and Environmental Science, Shimane University, 1060 Nishikawatsu, Matsue, Shimane 690-8504, Japan

Received 20 January 2005/ Accepted 20 March 2005

The betaproteobacterium Mitsuaria chitosanitabida (formerly Matsuebacter chitosanotabidus) 3001 produces a chitosanase (ChoA) that is classified in glycosyl hydrolase family 80. While many chitosanase genes have been isolated from various bacteria to date, they show limited homology to the M. chitosanitabida 3001 chitosanase gene (choA). To investigate the phylogenetic distribution of chitosanases analogous to ChoA in nature, we identified 67 chitosan-degrading strains by screening and investigated their physiological and biological characteristics. We then searched for similarities to ChoA by Western blotting and Southern hybridization and selected 11 strains whose chitosanases showed the most similarity to ChoA. PCR amplification and sequencing of the chitosanase genes from these strains revealed high deduced amino acid sequence similarities to ChoA ranging from 77% to 99%. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences of the 11 selected strains indicated that they are widely distributed in the ß and {gamma} subclasses of Proteobacteria and the Flavobacterium group. These observations suggest that the ChoA-like chitosanases that belong to family 80 occur widely in a broad variety of bacteria.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Life Science and Biotechnology, Faculty of Life and Environmental Science, Shimane University, 1060 Nishikawatsu, Matsue, Shimane 690-8504, Japan. Phone: 81-852-32-6587. Fax: 81-852-32-6092. E-mail: kawamuka{at}life.shimane-u.ac.jp.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2005, p. 5138-5144, Vol. 71, No. 9
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.9.5138-5144.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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