Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Structure and function of chitinases 1 1.2 Filarial chitinases are potential targets for interventions 4 1.3 A. viteae as a model to investigate parasitological parameters of filarial diseases 6 1.4 Aims and objectives of the study 7 2 Results 9 2.1 Characterisation of A. viteae chitinase genes 9 2.1.1 Determination of the gene structure of A. viteae chiti...

The chitinase producing ability of Pseudomonas fluorescens strains viz., PF1, PB2 and FP7 was evaluated in a culture medium with and without a chitin source. The addition of 1% (v/v) chitin in culture medium significantly increased the bacterial population and chitinase activity. Among three strains tested, FP7 responded well to the addition of chitin by producing 31.2% increased chitinase in c...

In the present study, we identified chitinase genes in the genome of mulberry for the first time. The mulberry genome encodes 20 chitinase genes, which are grouped into two main families and organized into five classes. The genomic structures and phylogenetic relationships of mulberry chitinase genes were analyzed, which provided a genetic basis for understanding the functions of these genes. W...

Chitinase A of Streptomyces cyaneus SP-27 or chitinase I of Bacillus circulans KA-304 showed the protoplast-forming activity when combined with alpha-1,3-glucanase of B. circulans KA-304. The gene of chitinase A was cloned. It consisted of 903 nucleotides encoding 301 amino acid residues, including a putative signal peptide (35 amino acid residues). The deduced N-terminal moiety of chitinase A ...

Plants synthesize a number of antimicrobial proteins in response to pathogen invasion and environmental stresses. These proteins include two classes of chitinases that have either basic or acidic isoelectric points and that are capable of degrading fungal cell wall chitin. We have cloned and determined the nucleotide sequence of the genes encoding the acidic and basic chitinases from Arabidopsi...

A thermostable Chitinase Chi1 from Myceliophthora thermophila C1 was homologously produced and characterized. Chitinase Chi1 shows high thermostability at 40 °C (>140 h 90% activity), 50 °C (>168 h 90% activity), and 55 °C (half-life 48 h). Chitinase Chi1 has broad substrate specificity and converts chitin, chitosan, modified chitosan, and chitin oligosaccharides. The activity of Chitinase Chi1...

Chitinase is an enzyme that catalyzes the degradation of chitin, commonly induced upon the attack of pathogens and other stresses. A cDNA (MsChi1) was isolated from Metroxylon sagu and expressed predominantly in the inflorescence tissue of M. sagu, suggesting its role in developmental processes. The chitinase cDNA was detected and isolated via differential display and rapid amplification of cDN...

Chitinase proteins have evolved and diversified almost in all organisms ranging from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. During evolution, internal repeats may appear in amino acid sequences of proteins which alter the structural and functional features. Here we deciphered the internal repeats from Chitinase and characterized the structural similarities between them. Out of 24 diverse Chitinase sequence...

Chitinase is often produced in higher plants as a general defence response after wounding or pathogenic attack. Since germinating seeds are exposed to soil pathogens, the activity and expression of chitinase in muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) seeds was investigated. One acidic and three basic chitinase isoforms were detected, beginning 40 d after anthesis in developing and fully mature seeds. Both ...

KA-prep, a culture filtrate of Bacillus circulans KA-304 grown on a cell-wall preparation of Schizophyllum commune, has an activity to form protoplasts from S. commune mycelia. alpha-1,3-Glucanase, which was isolated from an ammonium sulfate fraction of 0-30% saturation of KA-prep, gave the protoplast-forming activity to an ammonium sulfate fraction of 30-50% saturation of KA-prep, which contai...