Roles of four chitinases (chia, chib, chic, and chid) in the chitin degradation system of marine bacterium Alteromonas sp. strain O-7.

Alteromonas sp. strain O-7 secretes four chitinases (ChiA, ChiB, ChiC, and ChiD) in the presence of chitin. To elucidate why the strain produces multiple chitinases, we studied the expression levels of the four genes and proteins, their enzymatic properties, and their synergistic effects on chitin degradation.

Molecular analysis of the gene encoding a novel cold-adapted chitinase (ChiB) from a marine bacterium, Alteromonas sp. strain O-7.

The chitinase B (ChiB) secreted by Alteromonas sp. strain O-7 was purified, and the corresponding gene (chiB) was cloned and sequenced. The open reading frame of the chiB gene encodes a protein of 850 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 90,223 Da.