• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.345-351
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• 1998

In an effort to develop a potent system for the production of various dp (degree of polymerization) chitooligosaccharides, 32 enzymes or microbial systems were screened for chitosanolytic acitivity using chitosan as a substrate. The efficiency of each enzyme system was evaluated by the changes of turbidity and viscosity of chitosan solution, the amount of precipitate and the reducing sugar-producing activity in the enzymatic reaction mixture. Based on these assay methods for the chitosanase activity, Bacillus sp. P2l out of 32 screened systems showed highly potent endochitosanase, which was comparable with a commercially available enzyme (E7). Chitooligosaccharides of dp 3-7 were separated by TLC as major enzymatic reaction products, suggesting that the chitosanase from Bacillus sp. P2l be endo-splitting type.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.358-361
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• 2009

The purified endochitosanase(Mw 41 kDa) from bacterium Bacillus cereus D-11 hydrolyzed chitooligomers $(GlcN)_{5-7}$ into chitobiose, chitotriose, and chitotetraose as the final products. The minimal size of the oligosaccharides for enzymatic hydrolysis was a pentamer. To further investigate the cleavage pattern of this enzyme, chitooligosaccharide alcohols were prepared as substrates and the end products of hydrolysis were analyzed by TLC and HPLC. The chitosanase split $(GlcN)_4GlcNOH$ into $(GlcN)_3+(GlcN)_1GlcNOH$, and $(GlcN)_5GIcNOH$ into $(GlcN)_4+(GlcN)_1GlcNOH$ and $(GlcN)_3+(GlcN)_2GlcNOH$. The heptamer $(GlcN)_6GlcNOH$ was split into $(GlcN)_5$ [thereafter hydrolyzed again into $(GlcN_3+(GlcN)2]+(GlcN)_1GlcNOH$, $(GlcN)_4+(GlcN)_2GlcNOH$, and $(GlcN)_3+(GlcN)_3GlcNOH$, whereas $(GlcN)_{1-3}GlcNOH$ was not hydrolyzed. The monomers GlcN and GIcNOH were never detected from the enzyme reaction. These results suggest that D-11 chitosanase recognizes three glucosamine residues in the minus position and simultaneously two residues in the plus position from the cleavage point.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.563-566
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• 2000

In order to obtain microbial endochitosanase for enzymatic production of chitooligosaccharides from chitosan, we screened four microbes from soil and selected. Bacillus sp. HSB-21 which showed highest activity. Chitosanase, produced from isolating microbe, was endo-type and molecular mass of the enzyme was estimated as 21,000 by active staining. Its optimum pH and temperature were 5.5 and $50^{\circ}C$, respectively. It was stable in the pH range of 3.0 to 8.0 and up to $40^{\circ}C$. It did not produce chitomonosaccharide and produced chitooligosaccharide ranging from chitobiose to chitooctaose as major end-products from chitosan. The chitosanase from Bacillus sp. HSB-21 can be applicable to enzymatic production of chitooligosaccharide which has high degree of polymerization .

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.369-374
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• 1997

An endochitosanase-producing bacterium was isolated from soil and identified as a strain of Bacillus sp. The isolate was gram positive, rod shape $(0.4-0.6{\times}1.6-2.2{\mu}m)$, endospore-forming, catalase positive, and mobility positive, and grown at pH 4.5-11.0 and upto $42^{\circ}C$ in the medium containing 2% NaCl. RAPD analysis of the DNA purified from the strain was also performed, and the chitosanase-producing strain was named as Bacillus sp. P16. The culture supernatant of the strain showed strong liquefaction activity and rapidly decreased viscosity of chitosan solution. By TLC and HPLC, chitooligosaccharides of DP 2-7 were separated and identified from the enzyme hydrolyzates of chitosan. The chitosanase from Bacillus sp. P16 was thus regarded as an endo-splitting type.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.960-968
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• 2003

A bacterial isolate showing a strong endochitosanase activity was isolated from soil and then characterized. The isolate was identified and designated as Bacillus cereus P16, based on morphological and biochemical properties, assimilation tests, cellular fatty acids pattern, along with 16S rRNA gene sequence. The optimized medium for producing extracellular chitosanase in a batch culture contained 1% tryptone, 0.5% chitosan, and 1% NaCl (pH 7.0). Powder chitosan and tryptone served the best as carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively, for the chitosanase production. Chitosanase activity was the highest when culture was completed at $37^{\circ}C$ among various temperatures ($20-42^{\circ}C$) tested in a shaking incubator (200 rpm). The levels of chitosanase activity in the culture fluid were 2.0 U/ml and 3.8 U/ml, respectively, when incubated in a flask for 60 h and in a jar fermenter for 24 h. The culture supernatant showed a strong liquefying activity on the soluble chitosan. The viscosity of 1% chitosan solution, that was incubated with the culture supernatant, was rapidly decreased, suggesting the secretion of endochitosanolytic enzymes by P16. The culture fluid revealed six endo-type chitosanase isozymes, two major (38 and 45 kD), and four minor (54, 65, 82, and 96 kD) forms by staining profile. The crude enzymes were very stable, and full activity was maintained for 4 weeks at $4^{\circ}C\;or\;-20^{\circ}C$ in the culture supernatant, suggesting a highly desirable stability rate for making an industrial application of the crude enzymes. The supernatant also cleaved the insoluble chitosan powder, but the hydrolysis rate was much lower. The enzymic degradation products of chitosan contained $(GlcN)_n$ (n=2-8). The concentration of chitosan in the reaction mixture of the crude enzyme affected the chitooligosaccharides composition of the hydrolysis products. When the higher concentration of chitosan was used, the higher degree of polymerized chitooligosaccharides were produced. By comparison with other commercial chitosanase preparations, P16 was indeed found to be a valuable enzyme source for industrial production of chitooligosaccharides from chitosan.