Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2011, 12(1), 56-65; doi:10.3390/ijms12010056
Article

The Chitinolytic Activities of Streptomyces sp. TH-11

Kim-Chi Hoang 1 email, Tzu-Hsuan Lai 2 email, Chung-Sheng Lin 3 email, Ying-Tsong Chen 4,5,† email and Chun-Yi Liau 2,†,*
1 General Education Center, Ta Hwa Institute of Technology, HsinChu 307, Taiwan 2 Departments of Bioengineering, Tatung University, Taipei 104, Taiwan 3 School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University and Department of Internal Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, TaiChung City 402, Taiwan 4 Institute of Genomics and Bioinformatics, National Chung Hsin University, TaiChung City 402, Taiwan 5 Division of Molecular and Genomics Medicine, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli 350, Taiwan † These authors contributed equally to this manuscript.
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 28 October 2010; in revised form: 10 December 2010 / Accepted: 18 December 2010 / Published: 27 December 2010
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chitins)
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Abstract: Chitin is an abundant biopolymer composed of units of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine linked by b-1,4 glycosidic bonds. Chitin is the main component of the shells of mollusks, the cell wall of fungi and yeast and of the exoskeleton of crustaceans and insects. The degradation of chitin is catalyzed by chitinases that occur in a wide range of organisms. Among them, the chitinases from microorganisms are extremely important for the degradation and recycling of the carbon and nitrogen trapped in the large amount of insoluble chitin in nature. Streptomyces sp. TH-11 was isolated from the sediment of the Tou-Chien River, Taiwan. The chitinolytic enzyme activities were detected using a rapid in-gel detection method from the cell-free preparation of the culture medium of TH-11. The chitinolytic enzyme activity during prolonged liquid culturing was also analyzed by direct measurement of the chitin consumption. Decomposition of the exoskeleton of shrimps was demonstrated using electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy.
Keywords: chitin; Streptomyces; chitinase

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MDPI and ACS Style

Hoang, K.-C.; Lai, T.-H.; Lin, C.-S.; Chen, Y.-T.; Liau, C.-Y. The Chitinolytic Activities of Streptomyces sp. TH-11. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2011, 12, 56-65.

AMA Style

Hoang K-C, Lai T-H, Lin C-S, Chen Y-T, Liau C-Y. The Chitinolytic Activities of Streptomyces sp. TH-11. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2011; 12(1):56-65.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Hoang, Kim-Chi; Lai, Tzu-Hsuan; Lin, Chung-Sheng; Chen, Ying-Tsong; Liau, Chun-Yi. 2011. "The Chitinolytic Activities of Streptomyces sp. TH-11." Int. J. Mol. Sci. 12, no. 1: 56-65.

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