Two genes (chiA and chiB) coding for chitanases A and B (ChiA and ChiB) were isolated from the chitinolytic bacterium, Burkholderia gladioli strain CHB101. chiA contains an open reading frame that encodes a protein of 343 amino acids, whereas chiB encodes a protein of 307 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence of ChiA showed a high similarity to those of microbial chitinases belonging to family 18 of the glycosyl hydrolases, while ChiB showed significant sequence similarity to plant chitinases and Streptomyces spp. chitinases belonging to family 19.
The bacterium Burkholderia gladioli strain CHB101 produces two different kinds of chitinases belonging to families 18 and 19 of the glycosyl hydrolases.
Department of Applied Biology, Faculty of Textile Science and Technology, Shinshu University, 3-15-1 Tokida, Ueda, Nagano 386-8567, Japan. mashimo@giptc.shinshu-u.ac.jp
