Effect of pH and Temperature on Bacillus sp. R2 Chitinase Activity and Stability

The purified chitinase of Bacillus sp. R2 showed a molecular weight of 41.68 KDa, an optimal pH and temperature of 7.5 and 40°C respectively. The enzyme was stable between pH 7 to 8 but it lost 57% and 62% of its initial activity at the pH 6 and 9 respectively. The purified chitinase also exhibited complete heat stability for 1h at 40°C and retained above 50% and 30% of its original activity after 30min heating at 50°C and 60°C respectively. The chitinase activation energy for chitin hydrolysis was 12.93 Kcal/mol. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study about marine chitinase characterization from novel gram variable Bacillus isolated from the Red sea.