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Appl. Environ. Microbiol., Feb 1995, 438-442, Vol 61, No. 2
Copyright © 1995, American Society for Microbiology

Production of Two Chitosanases from a Chitosan-Assimilating Bacterium, Acinetobacter sp. Strain CHB101

M Shimosaka, M Nogawa, X Wang, M Kumehara and M Okazaki
Department of Applied Biology, Faculty of Textile Science and Technology, Shinshu University, 3-15-1 Tokida, Ueda, Nagano 386, Japan

A bacterial strain capable of utilizing chitosan as a sole carbon source was isolated from soil and was identified as a member of the genus Acinetobacter. This strain, designated CHB101, produced extracellular chitosan-degrading enzymes in the absence of chitosan. The chitosan-degrading activity in the culture fluid increased when cultures reached the early stationary phase, although the level of activity was low in the exponential growth phase. Two chitosanases, chitosanases I and II, which had molecular weights of 37,000 and 30,000, respectively, were purified from the culture fluid. Chitosanase I exhibited substrate specificity for chitosan that had a low degree of acetylation (10 to 30%), while chitosanase II degraded colloidal chitin and glycol chitin, as well as chitosan that had a degree of acetylation of 30%. Rapid decreases in the viscosities of chitosan solutions suggested that both chitosanases catalyzed an endo type of cleavage reaction; however, chitosan oligomers (molecules smaller than pentamers) were not produced after a prolonged reaction.

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