한국 토양에서 분리된 Xanthomonas sp.는 Candida albicans에 대한 용균성을 나타내며 분비효소로서 chitinase를 분비하는 것으로 사료되었다. 특히 chitinase활성은 chitin배지에서 배양했을 때 3일 배양에서 최대치를 나타내었다. 이러한 특성이 있는 Xanthomonas의 chitinase 유전자를 cloning하기 위하여 cosmid vector를 이용한 genomic library를 작성하였으며, 다른 박테리아 chitinase 유전자와 homology를 가진 지역의 DNA sequence를 oligonucleotide로 합성하여 probe로 사용한 결과 4개의 독립된 positive clone을 cloning 하였다. 이중 pXCHl(1.2 kb insert) 이라고 명명한 clone에 대해 해석한 결과 이 크론의 전사산물은 chitin 배지에서만 유도됨을 확인하였으며 대장균 발현 vector를 이용한 이 유전자의 대장균에서의 발현에 대한 실험의 결과 약 35 kDa의 단백질을 생산하는 것으로 확인하였다. 또한 이 산물의 chitinase활성을 측정한 결과 유전자가 포함되지 않은 산물에 비해 약 10배의 활성을 나타내어 이 유전자를 Xanthomonas sp.의 chitinase유전자임을 증명하였다.
Xanthomonas sp. isolated from soil exhibited cell wall lytic activity of Candida albicans and secreted chitinase in chitin media. Especially, the chitinase activity was induced by chitin and reached a maximum level at 3 days culture in chitin media. We constructed genomic library of Xanthomonas sp. using cosmid vector in E. coli. Oligonucleotide probe was synthesized from the consensus sequence corresponding to chitinase active site, which was derived from the comparison of amino acid sequences of bacterial chitinase genes. Using this oligonucleotide probe, we screened the genomic library. By restriction enzyme mapping of the positive clones, we identified 4 independent clones which may contain the chitinase gene. One of the clones, named pXCH1 (1.2 kb insert), was further analyzed. Northern blot analysis indicated that is transcripts, 1 kb and 0.8 kb, were induced by chitin. When the cloned gene was induced by IPTG in E.coli cell, chitinase activity which was secreted onto culture media was not observed. However, when the cell was disrupted by using sonicator and then centrifuged, the supernatant exhibited chitinase activity. SDS-PAGE of the supernatant indicated that about 35 kDa protein was induced by IPTG. From these results, it was concluded that the cloned DNA was one of the chitinase genes of Xanthomonas sp.
