The effect of different substrates on chitinase activity from Bacillus sp. WS4F

Abstract

One of the roles of chitinase is as an antifungal which is widely used as a biocontrol agent for plant diseases caused by pathogenic fungi. Bacillus sp. WS4F has chitinase activity which can inhibit the growth of Ganoderma boninense, a fungus that attacks oil palm and causes basal stem rot (BSR). This study aims to investigate the effect of different substrates on the activity of the chitinase from Bacillus sp. WS4F. Two kinds of substrates i.e. chitin flakes and shrimp shells were used in this study. Enzyme activity of chitinase was analyzed after partial purification of enzyme was performed using ammonium sulfate precipitation followed by dialysis. The highest activity of chitinase was achieved by the substrate using shrimp shells. The ammonium sulfate precipitation (60-80% saturation) 0.0949 U/mL for activity enzyme and 0.2639 mg/mL for protein. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of the enzyme showed a molecular weight of 64.389 kDa.