Isolation and Characterization of Acinetobacter sp. WC-17 Producing Chitinase

The bacterial strain WC-17 able to produce chitinase was isolated from soil using an enrichment technique. The isolated strain was identified as Acinetobacter sp. judging by their morphological and physiological characterisitics. The optimal culture conditions for the production of chitinase of Acinetobacter sp. WC -17 are 1.5% colloidal chitin and 1 % tryptone at $30^{\circ}C$ with pH 6.5. Since the enzyme was rapidly produced in a culture supplied with chitin, glucose, or N-acetylglucosamine but not with other polymers and monosaccharide, the enzyme was considered to be an inducible enzyme. Notably N- acetylglucosamine and glucose were found to be effective inducers at low concentrations but repressors at excessive concentrations. The cultural supernatant of Acinetobacter sp. WC-17 inhibited the growth of phytopathogenic fungi such as P.oryzae, R.solani, and F.solani. Among the phytopathogenic fungi tested, P.oryzae was the most sensitive. The conventional agar plate (PDA containing 1 % colloidal chitin) method also produced the same result.