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A chitinase producing bacteria was screened and isolated from Tompaso hot spring in North Sulawesi Indonesia. The gram positive spore forming rod shaped bacteria was identified as Bacillus sp. 13.26 through sequence analysis of the 16SrRNA gene. When grown in medium containing 0.5% chitin at 55 °C, the thermophillic bacteria optimally produced extracellular chitinase enzyme after 72 h of incubation. The enzyme was purified through ammonium sulfate fractionation, dialysis, heat treatment at 60 °C for 3 h and chromatographed onto DEAE Sepharose CL-6B.The optimum temperature and pH of the 60-kD chitinase were found at 60 °C and pH 7–8. The thermostable chitinase still retained the activity after incubation for 5 h incubation at 70 °C. Zymogram analysis confirmed the thermostability of the enzyme ; when heated at 80 °C, the enzyme was still significantly active even after 1 h of incubation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This research study was performed to determine the antistaphylococcal spectrum activity of Cinnamomum burmanii stem bark extracts from Indonesia on Staphylococcus species as follows: Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 13228, Staphylococcus xylosus ATCC 3342, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 11784, Staphylococcus warneri ATCC 3340, and Staphylococcus haemolyticus ATCC 3741. Materials and Methods: The antistaphylococcal spectrum of the extract was assayed on Staphylococcus strains using the agar diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration value (MIC) was done using macrodilution method and followed by subculturing the overnight MIC result onto the surface of agar media to determine the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) value. In addition, the antistaphylococcal potency of the extract was compared to neomycin sulfate. Results and Discussion: Flavonoids, tannins, polyphenols, saponins, monoterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids, and quinones were detected in C. burmanii stem bark extracts. Those metabolites supported the significant result of antistaphylococcus spectrum of the extract against Staphylococcus strains. The strongest activity of the extract was achieved against S. epidermidis and the weakest was on S. xylosus. The MIC and MBC values were various in ranged: S. epidermidis ATCC 13228 (0.25–0.50% w/v), S. xylosus ATCC 3342 (3.00–3.50% w/v), S. aureus ATCC 11784 (0.75–1.00% w/v), S. warneri ATCC 3340 (0.75–1.00% w/v), and S. haemolyticus ATCC 3741 (0.50–2.00% w/v). The comparative analysis of the extracts indicated that neomycin sulfate demonstrated greater antibacterial activity against S. epidermidis ATCC 13228 than the extract (1:2.047.10−4). Conclusion: The ethanolic extract of C. burmanii stem bark exhibited a wide spectrum of antistaphylococcal activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitinase and chitindeacetylase are enzymes capable of degrading chitin into chitooligomers and chitosan. The chitinases characterized and purified in this study were extracted from the acidophillic Bacillus sp. isolated from Kamojang Crater West Java Indonesia. When grown in liquid media containing colloidal chitin, the optimum chitinase activity of the acidophilic isolate was reached after 4-5 days of incubation. The optimum temperature and pH of the chitinase and chitin deacetylase were found at 37 degrees C and pH 5. When incubated at pH 5, the activity of chitin deacetylase was increased; after 3 h, the activity was 1.5 times of the control. The enzyme was stable at pH 4, after 2 h incubation, the activity was still 80% of the control. The chitinase and chitin deacetylase activities were not influenced by Mg(++) nor Ca(++), Ni(++) and Cu(++) inhibited the chitinase activity, while chitin deacetylase activity was not affected by Cu(++) addition. When 1 mM of EDTA was added, the enzyme activity was reduced 40 to 50%.