Molecular diversity of bacterial chitinases in arable soils and the effects of environmental factors on the chitinolytic bacterial community

The molecular diversity of bacterial chitinases in the bulk soils of arable land was investigated using culture-independent methods. The results demonstrate that bacterial chitinases in arable soils are highly diverse and comprise unique groups when their sequences were compared to those in public databases. The diversity of bacterial chitinases in arable soil was further evaluated using conventional phylogenetic analysis, the UniFrac analysis of the phylogenetic data, and the multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis of T-RFLP profiles to elucidate the relationship between the diversity of bacterial chitinases and soil characteristics. These analyses indicate that environmental factors such as soil type and pH are responsible for shaping the composition of bacterial chitinases.