Molecular characterisation of <i>Bacillus</i> chitinase for bioconversion of chitin waste

<div><p>In this work chitin was extracted chemically from shrimp shells. Seventeen <i>Bacillus</i> isolates were screened for chitinolytic activity. The chitinolytic strains of <i>Bt</i>. were screened at different temperatures and pHs for their hydrolytic potentials. By using a pair of specific primers, <i>endochitinase</i> gene was amplified from SBS Bt-5 strain through PCR, and then cloned into pTZ57 TA cloning vector and transferred in <i>Escherichia coli</i> DH5α strain. The sequenced gene (GenBank Accession No: HE995800) consists of 2031 nucleotides capable of encoding 676 residues. The protein consisted of three functional domains with a calculated molecular mass of 74.53 kDa and a pI value of 5.83. The amino acid sequence of <i>chi</i> gene showed 99% similarity to the genes of <i>Bt</i> MR11 <i>endochitinase</i>, <i>Bt</i><i>serovar kurstaki</i> chitinase (<i>kch</i>i), <i>Bt</i> strain MR21 <i>endochitinase</i> and <i>Bacillus cereus</i> B4264.</p></div