A novel halo-alkali and thermo-tolerant chitinase
was obtained from an isolated strain found in the
Caspian Sea. The effects of media composition and various
fermentation conditions for the optimization of chitinase
production were studied one factor at a time and by
response surface methodology. The novel strain, which is
designated as strain DC14 and phylogenetically related to
the genus
Pseudoalteromonas
, produced chitinase after
72 h under the following optimal conditions: glucose 1 %
(w/v), ammonium sulphate 0.2 % (w/v), chitin 1.07 % (w/
v), pH 8, NaCl 10 % (w/v), inoculums size 2.5 % (v/v),
temperature 30 ºC, CaCl
2 3 mM and MgCl
2 4 mM. Using
the statistical optimization method, chitinase production
was found to increase from 2.30 to 21.90 U/dl. The enzyme
showed maximum activity at 40 ºC, pH 9 and 10 % NaCl.
It was stable in a wide range of temperature from 15 to
65 ºC, pH from pH 7 to 11 and NaCl concentration from 0
to 15 % (w/v). The molecular weight of the enzyme was
estimated by SDS-PAGE to be about 65 kDa. With regard
to the halo-alkali and thermo-stable properties of this
enzyme, it has potential industrial activity.
