Characterisation of Chitinasome from Chitinibacter tainanensis

Chitin is a the second abundant polysaccharide on the earth. The momomer of chitin is N-acetyl glucosamine (NAG). Chitin is distributed prokaryotes to eukaryotes. It is the main component of most fungal cell walls, insect exoskeletons and the shells of crustaceans. In past, the material with chitin is usually treated as waste because of hard. However, chitin, chitosan and their derivatives are applied on biomedical, environmental and indutrial fields. The techniques to obtain chitin, chitosan and their derivatives are focused.Chitinibacter tainanensis was idientied from the soil in Southern Taiwan. NAG can be obtained after Chitinibacter tainanensis with more chitin. The yield was 0.75 g/g - 0.98 g/g depending on the substrates. Beta-chitin is a better substrate. Some unique particles was observed on the surface of the bacteria. In the medium and debris, NAGase and endochitinase were detected. A hypothesis is raised and the chareacteristics of chitinasome are presented.