title: Biological Potential of Chitinolytic Marine Bacteria.
abstract: Chitinolytic microorganisms secrete a range of chitin modifying enzymes, which can be exploited for production of chitin derived products or as fungal or pest control agents. Here, we explored the potential of 11 marine bacteria (Pseudoalteromonadaceae,Vibrionaceae) for chitin degradation using in silico and phenotypic assays. Of 10 chitinolytic strains, three strains,Photobacterium galatheaeS2753,Pseudoalteromonas piscicidaS2040 and S2724, produced large clearing zones on chitin plates. All strains were antifungal, but against different fungal targets. One strain,Pseudoalteromonas piscicidaS2040, had a pronounced antifungal activity against all seven fungal strains. There was no correlation between the number of chitin modifying enzymes as found by genome mining and the chitin degrading activity as measured by size of clearing zones on chitin agar. Based on in silico and in vitro analyses, we cloned and expressed two ChiA-like chitinases from the two most potent candidates to exemplify the industrial potential.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark. saskp@dtu.dk.
authors.forename: Sara Skøtt
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Paulsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark. ba@bio.dtu.dk.
authors.forename: Birgitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark. gram@bio.dtu.dk.
authors.forename: Lone
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gram
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark. henma@biosustain.dtu.dk.|Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark. henma@biosustain.dtu.dk.
authors.forename: Henrique
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Machado
mesh_terms: D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D002686:Chitin / Q000378:metabolism*; D002688:Chitinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D008386:Marine Biology; D031161:Pseudoalteromonas / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D014737:Vibrionaceae / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D002686:Chitin; D002688:Chitinases
keywords: Pseudoalteromonadaceae; Vibrionaceae; antifungal; chitin; chitinases; marine bacteria