Abstract
This chapter describes the colorimetric assay for chitinase, which is applicable to the various types of chitinase present in microorganisms, animals, and plants. The chapter evaluates it with particular reference to plant chitinases, because they may function as a defense against chitin-containing pathogens. The most widely used colorimetric assay for plant chitinases has been an exochitinase assay, based on the determination of monomeric N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) released from colloidal chitin. However, plant chitinases generally are endochitinases and produce chitooligosaccharides as principal products. Therefore, measurements of plant chitinases with the exochitinase assay should be viewed with caution. For accurate determination, it is essential to measure the chitooligosaccharides produced in the assay. This can be accomplished by the enzymatic hydrolysis of the reaction products to monomeric GlcNAc prior to the colorimetric measurement. The chapter compares the assay with other chitinase assays.
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