Study of Thermostable Chitinase Enzymes from Indonesian Bacillus K29-14

Thermophilic microorganisms capable of producing chitinase enzymes were screened from samples collected from several crater and geothermal areas. The chitinolytic microorganisms were grown in a selective medium containing colloidal chitin. The Bacillus K29-14 isolate was found to exhibit the highest chitinase and chitin deacetylase activities. When grown in a chitin-containing medium, the isolate produced extracellular chitinase after 24 h of incubation. The optimum temperature and pH for the chitinase were 55℃ and pH 7, respectively, while those for the chitin deacetylase were 55℃ and pH 8, respectively.