title: Chi18A, the endochitinase in the cellulosome of the thermophilic, cellulolytic bacterium Clostridium thermocellum.
abstract: The chitinase gene chiA was identified on the Clostridium thermocellum genome downstream of the endoglucanase gene celA. It contains a catalytic module of glycosyl hydrolase family 18 and a cellulosomal dockerin module. Chi18A hydrolyzes aryl-acetyl-chito-oligosaccharides preferentially. In denaturing electrophoresis of purified cellulosomes, a single chitinase activity band was identified in zymograms and Western blots, indicating that Chi18A is the only chitinase in the cellulosome.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Genetics, Russian Academy of Science, 123 187 Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Vladimir V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Zverlov
authors.forename: Klaus-Peter
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.forename: Wolfgang H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Schwarz
mesh_terms: D002688:Chitinases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003013:Clostridium / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D002688:Chitinases