Screening of Bacterial Isolates from Seafood-Wastes for Chitin Degrading Enzyme Activity

The safer removal of chitin is important for controlling accumulation of chitin in environment and agriculture. Chitin a long-chain polymer is a glucosederivative and a primary component of fungal cell-wall, the exoskeleton of molluscs, fish, and insects. Chitinase enzyme (E.C. 3.2.1.14) is able to digest chitin, hydrolyzing the 1-4 linkages between the N-acetyleglucosamine molecules. Present work was undertaken for the isolation and characterisation of chitinolytic bacteria from waste-seafood. Seventy-one indigenous strains were isolated from a variety of marine-sources, including scales of sea-fish, shrimps, prawns and crabs; of which 4isolates were identified as Alcaligenes spp., 2as Kurthiaspp., 1 as Acinetobactor and 1 as Bacillus spp. These were higher chitinase producers with enzyme units ranging from 12.5 to 35.41 micromoles/min/ml. These chitinase producers may prove to be industrially beneficial for their enzyme production for degradation of chitin in environment clean-up, polluted with decaying sea-food and wastes originated from their processing.