• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.512-521
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• 2016

A bacterial strain was isolated from a soil sample collected on Jeju Island, Korea. The strain, designated WJ-2, exhibited a high xylanase activity, whereas cellulase activity was not detected. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of WJ-2 was highly similar to type strains of the genus Streptomyces. A neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain WJ-2 is phylogenetically related to Streptomyces atrovirens. Furthermore, DNA-DNA hybridization analysis confirmed that strain WJ-2 is a novel subspecies of Streptomyces atrovirens. The genomic DNA G+C content was 73.98 mol% and the major fatty acid present was anteiso-C15:0 (36.19%). The growth and xylanase production of strain WJ-2 were significantly enhanced by using soytone and xylan as nitrogen and carbon sources, respectively. Crude enzyme preparations from the culture broth of strain WJ-2 exhibited maximal total xylanase activities at pH 7.0 and $55^{\circ}C$. Thin-layer chromatography analysis revealed that the crude enzyme degrades beechwood xylan to yield xylobiose and xylotriose as the principal hydrolyzed end products.