Isolation and Identification of a Novel <i>Chitinilyticum</i> sp.C8: Unleashing the Potential for Chitin Oligosaccharides Production

Chitin oligosaccharides (CHOS) possess potential applications in food, medicine, and agriculture. Nevertheless, their low production efficiency and polymerization degree severely restrict their extensive utilization. In the present study, a Chitinase-producing bacterium was isolated and identified as <i>Chitinilyticum</i> sp.C8. Under the optimized conditions, the Chitinase yield reached 2.24 U/mL. Using extracellular Chitinase derived from <i>Chitinilyticum</i> sp.C8, chitin was converted to CHOS (DP 2-7) and GlcNAc with a yield of 96.7%. Furthermore, the endochitinase ChiC8-2 was isolated from crude enzyme preparation, which can hydrolyze chitin to obtain CHOS (DP 2-6) ((GlcNAc)₂ 0.2 mg/mL (22.7%), (GlcNAc)₃ 0.03 mg/mL (3.4%), (GlcNAc)₄ 0.25 mg/mL (28.4%), (GlcNAc)₅ 0.09 mg/mL (10.2%), and (GlcNAc)₆ 0.21 mg/mL (23.9%)) within 30 min. The <i>Chitinilyticum</i> sp.C8 could not only produce various types of chitinases but also pretreat chitin to improve the efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis. An integrated preparation method from Chitinase production to chitin treatment by <i>Chitinilyticum</i> sp.C8 was developed for the efficient production of CHOS. This study introduces an environmentally friendly strategy for the production of bioactive CHOS, facilitating the sustainable utilization of renewable natural resources.