SOIL & CROP SCIENCES | RESEARCH ARTICLE Characterization of extracellular chitinase produced from Streptomyces rubiginosus isolated from rhizosphere of Gossypium sp.

2 * Abstract: In the present study, 28 chitinase producing Actinomycetes were isolated from rhizoshperic soil samples of Gossypium sp. (Cotton) growing in Dastan farm, Naroda, Gujarat. Amongst them, eleven of these isolates produced significantly higher levels of chitinase and were further studied quantitatively. Results indicated that SP 24 was found to be the most prominent chitinase producer, giving 2.790 U/ml chitinase activity by us- ing 1% colloidal chitin as substrate concentration, amongst the isolates under study. In case of isolate SP 24, maximum chitinase production was obtained after 72 h of incuba- tion period and in culture medium having pH 7 at temperature 30°C. Amendment of peptone as a sole nitrogen source to colloidal chitin broth (CCB) enhanced chitinase ac- tivity. Furthermore, xylose as a sole carbon source added to CCB medium also increased chitinase activity. Effective production method of chitinase by Actinomycetes has captured the attention due to its varied applications in industries as well as in medicines. Chitinase enzyme has wide applications such as for control of phytophatogenic fungi, in food industry by increasing shelf-life of fruits, in bioconversion process.