Isolation And Characterization of Chitinase-Producing Microorganisms from Soil
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Abstract
Chitinase-producing microorganisms are important players in the biodegradation process of chitin and are used in diverse fields such as agriculture, biotechnology, environmental management, and biological control. This study focuses on the isolation and characterization of chitinase-producing microorganisms using standard microbiological procedures. Fifty soil samples from agricultural, compost, garden, rhizosphere, and forest soils will be collected, from which 96 microbial isolates will be obtained through serial dilution and spread plate techniques. In primary screening using Colloidal Chitin Agar (CCA), 18.8% of the isolates were found to be strong chitinase producers, 32.3% moderate producers, 22.9% weak producers, and 26.0% are non-producers of chitinases. Eighteen isolates will be characterized using morphological and biochemical tests. Most of the isolates are Gram-positive (66.7%), rods (72.2%), positive for catalase test (94.4%), positive for starch hydrolysis (83.3%), oxidase (77.8%), and gelatin hydrolysis (72.2%). Genus’s identification shows that Bacillus spp. (38.9%) is the prevalent chitinase-producing microorganism followed by Streptomyces spp. (22.2%), Pseudomonas spp. (16.7%), Serratia spp. (11.1%), Aspergillus spp. (5.6%), and Trichoderma spp. (5.6%). The results indicate that agricultural and compost soils are rich sources of chitinolytic microorganisms and that Bacillus spp. is the promising candidate for chitinase production. Such microorganisms are useful in various industries such as sustainable agriculture, biological control, biodegradation of chitin-containing wastes, and other industrial processes.
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