Elvy Like Ginting, Deiske Adeliene Sumilat, Natalie Detty Carolina Rumampuk, Riorifki Kabense, Emma Mauren Moko, Mayse Sofien Siby
The Tongkaina waters in North Sulawesi Indonesia are home to various seaweed species, such as Gracilaria sp. Seaweed-associated bacteria had the ability to degrade chitin and form chitosan. Transformation of chitin to chitosan by bacteria is environmentally friendly and economical. This study detailed seaweed-associated bacteria potentials in chitin degradation and chitosan formation. The bacteria were isolated from seaweed Gracilaria sp. from Tongkaina waters, North Sulawesi Indonesia. Chitin media was utilized to screen the chitinase activity of the bacteria. Chitin to chitosan transformation was evaluated using chitinase degrading activity media. 16S rRNA gene sequences were the basis for the molecular identification. This research discovered four seaweed-associated chtinolytic bacteria, and from those four, SG3 and SG4 contained the highest chitinolytic index values with the range of 3.04-3.52. The bacteria have the ability to form chitosan based on the existence of chitosan in the precipitation formation in the bacteria fermented broth. SG3 has been identified as Staphylococcus equorum and the SG4 as Bacillus tropicus. The bacteria can be utilized to exploit the biotransformation process of chitin into chitosan, which is an environmentally friendly and economical process. © 2024, BIOFLUX SRL. All rights reserved.
Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, Sam Ratulangi University, Kampus Unsrat-Bahu street, North Sulawesi, Manado, 95115, Indonesia; Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Biology Department, Manado State University, Raya Tondano street, North Sulawesi, Indonesia