title: Chitinolytic bacteria in the intestinal tract of Japanese coastal fishes.
abstract: Intestinal bacteria from several coastal fish species were screened on 1/20 PYBG medium containing 0.2% colloidal chitin, and 361 bacteria capable of decomposing colloidal chitin were isolated. These isolates were subsequently screened on media containing either 0.5% alpha-chitin or 0.5% beta-chitin resulting in the identification of 31 alpha-chitinolytic and 275 beta-chitinolytic bacterial isolates. Partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing was carried out and homology searches of the resultant sequences against the DDBJ, EMBL, and GenBank databases revealed that the majority (99%) of the chitinolytic bacteria isolated belonged to the Vibrionaceae. Phylogenetic analysis using a Bayesian approach showed that the alpha-chitinolytic bacteria belonging to the Vibrionaceae formed a separate cluster from the non-alpha-chitinolytic bacteria in the Vibrionaceae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine Science and Resources, Nihon University, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Itoi
authors.forename: Toshihiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okamura
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.forename: Haruo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sugita
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005399:Fishes / Q000382:microbiology*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D014737:Vibrionaceae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D002686:Chitin