The Fish Pathogen Aliivibrio salmonicida LFI1238 Can Degrade and Metabolize Chitin despite Gene Disruption in the Chitinolytic Pathway.

ABSTRACT: The fish pathogen Aliivibrio (Vibrio) salmonicida LFI1238 is thought to be incapable of utilizing chitin as a nutrient source, since approximately half of the genes representing the chitinolytic pathway are disrupted by insertion sequences. In the present study, we combined a broad set of analytical methods to investigate this hypothesis. Cultivation studies revealed that A. salmonicida grew efficiently on N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and chitobiose [(GlcNAc)₂], the primary soluble products resulting from enzymatic chitin hydrolysis. The bacterium was also able to grow on chitin particles, albeit at a lower rate than on the soluble substrates. The genome of the bacterium contains five disrupted chitinase genes (pseudogenes) and three intact gen

SUBMITTER: Skane A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8432520 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature