The chitin-binding domain of a GH-18 chitinase from Vibrio harveyi is crucial for chitin-chitinase interactions.

Vibrio harveyi chitinase A (VhChiA) is a GH-18 glycosyl hydrolase with a structure containing three distinct domains: i) the N-terminal chitin-binding domain; ii) the (α/β) TIM barrel catalytic domain; and iii) the α+β insertion domain. In this study, we cloned the gene fragment encoding the chitin-binding domain of VhChiA, termed ChBD. The recombinant ChBD was heterologously expressed in E.

Azide anions inhibit GH-18 endochitinase and GH-20 Exo β-N-acetylglucosaminidase from the marine bacterium Vibrio harveyi.

Vibrio harveyi is a bioluminescent marine bacterium that utilizes chitin as its sole source of energy. In the course of chitin degradation, the bacterium primarily secretes an endochitinase A (VhChiA) to hydrolyze chitin, generating chitooligosaccharide fragments that are readily transported into the cell and broken down to GlcNAc monomers by an exo β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (VhGlcNAcase). Here we report that sodium salts, especially sodium azide, inhibit two classes of these chitin-degrading enzymes (VhChiA and VhGlcNAcase) with distinct modes of action.

Mutation strategies for obtaining chitooligosaccharides with longer chains by transglycosylation reaction of family GH18 chitinase.

Enhancing the transglycosylation (TG) activity of glycoside hydrolases does not always result in the production of oligosaccharides with longer chains, because the TG products are often decomposed into shorter oligosaccharides. Here, we investigated the mutation strategies for obtaining chitooligosaccharides with longer chains by means of TG reaction catalyzed by family GH18 chitinase A from Vibrio harveyi (VhChiA). HPLC analysis of the TG products from incubation of chitooligosaccharide substrates, GlcNAc(n), with several mutant VhChiAs suggested that mutant W570G (mutation of Trp570 to Gly) and mutant D392N (mutation of Asp392 to Asn) significantly enhanced TG activity, but the TG products were immediately hydrolyzed into shorter GlcNAc(n).