title: Construction and basic characterization of deletion mutants of the genes involved in chitin utilization by Serratia marcescens 2170.
abstract: In order to elucidate the roles of ChiP, ChiQ, and ChiX in chitin utilization by Serratia marcescens 2170, the construction of single-gene deletion mutants of the chiP, chiQ, and chiX genes was attempted by allelic exchange mutagenesis. ΔchiP formed smaller clearing zones and ΔchiX formed larger ones than wild-type 2170 on an agar plate containing colloidal chitin. ΔchiP grew slowly on the lower concentration of (GlcNAc)2, and there was essentially no growth on chitin oligosaccharides larger than (GlcNAc)3. The gene product of chiP was detected in the outer membrane fraction, consistently with the hypothesis that chiP encodes outer membrane chitoporin. Deletion of chiQ decreased and that of chiX increased the growth rates on chitin oligosaccharides. These observations strongly suggest that all three genes are involved in chitin utilization and that the deletion mutants obtained in this study might prove useful tools to clarify the details of the chitin utilization system of this bacterium.
authors.affiliation: a Graduate School of Science and Technology, Niigata University , Niigata , Japan.
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takanao
authors.forename: Syouta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Honma
authors.forename: Takuma
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miura
authors.forename: Chisana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Hayuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
authors.forename: Kazushi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D002688:Chitinases / Q000235:genetics*; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000378:metabolism; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D012706:Serratia marcescens / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D009844:Oligosaccharides; D002686:Chitin; D002688:Chitinases
keywords: Serratia marcescens; chitinase; chitobiase; chitoporin