Abstract

The objective of the present study is isolation and identification of native chitinolytic fungal strains from infected Artemia collected for salt pan of Puthalam, Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu. A total of 10 fungi (J1 to J10) were isolated from homogenized Artemia sample and screened for chitinase activity on chitin agar plates. In this study, 5 fungi (J1, J3, J4, J5, & J8) showed positive result of chitinase activity and 2 best strains (J1 & J5) were selected for further study. Fungi J1 and J5 were identified as Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus fumigatus respectively. Greater quality of the enzyme production was achieved with the above strains and the molecular weight of the chitinase was determined by SDS-PAGE it was found to be around 23 KDa. Finally, degradation property of enzyme was assayed with chitin shell waste powder and observed that, degradation activity was higher in shrimp shell powder followed by Prawn shell. The fungal strains such as A.niger and A. fumigatus have been identified as good chitinase producers.

Key words: Chitinase, Aspergillus, Artemia and Salt pan.