Gene cloning of chitinase A1 from Bacillus circulans WL-12 revealed its evolutionary relationship to Serratia chitinase and to the type III homology units of fibronectin.

Two-step purification of Bacillus circulans chitinase A1 expressed in Escherichia coli periplasm

“…Chitinase A1 has been identiWed as a key enzyme in hydrolyzing chitin by B. circulans WL-12 and its encoding gene, chiA, was cloned and sequenced [7,9]. The chiAtransformed Bacillus subtilis F29-3 expressed higher antifungal activity than wild-type bacterium against Botrytis elliptica, a fungal pathogen of lily leaf and Xower blight [22].…”

“…Bacillus circulans WL-12, a Gram-positive bacterium, secretes chitinases that are encoded by three genes (chiA, chiC, and chiD) [5][6][7][8]. Chitinase A1, encoded by chiA, is a key enzyme in the chitinolytic system of B. circulans WL-12 [9].…”

“…Chitinase A1, encoded by chiA, is a key enzyme in the chitinolytic system of B. circulans WL-12 [9]. It has been studied from several aspects including gene structure [7] and catalytic mechanism [10][11][12][13][14]. In this study, we proposed a two-step procedure to purify chitinase A1 from Escherichia coli cells harboring chiA gene based on the trait of low isoelectric point (pI) of this protein [7,9].…”

“…It has been studied from several aspects including gene structure [7] and catalytic mechanism [10][11][12][13][14]. In this study, we proposed a two-step procedure to purify chitinase A1 from Escherichia coli cells harboring chiA gene based on the trait of low isoelectric point (pI) of this protein [7,9]. This puriWed chitinase A1 was used in raising polyclonal antibody speciWc for the detection of corresponding chitinase produced by B. circulans WL-12 and could be useful for the study of possible function of chitinase A1 toward fungi.…”

Structural characterization of two solute-binding proteins for N,N′-diacetylchitobiose/N,N′,N′′-triacetylchitotoriose of the gram-positive bacterium, Paenibacillus sp. str. FPU-7

“…Polysaccharides are not only an important source of carbon and nitrogen in marine and terrestrial ecosystems, but are also an important natural resource for the production of a variety of chemicals, and their degradation products, chitin oligosaccharides, are used in several biomedical applications ( Kato et al, 2003 ). The biodegradation of chitin has been explored using various chitinolytic bacteria such as Serratia marcescens ( Fuchs et al, 1986 ), Bacillus circulans WL-12 ( Watanabe et al, 1990 ), Paenibacillus sp. ( Itoh et al, 2013 ), Streptomyces coelicolor A3 ( Saito et al, 1999 ), and Vibrio harveyi ( Montgomery and Kirchman, 1993 ).…”