Different Cleavage Specificities of the Dual Catalytic Domains in Chitinase from the Hyperthermophilic Archaeon Thermococcus kodakaraensis KOD1

The chitinase from the hyperthermophilic archaeonThermococcus kodakaraensis KOD1, Tk-ChiA, has an interesting multidomain structure containing dual catalytic domains and triple chitin-binding domains. To determine the biochemical properties of each domain, we constructed deletion mutant genes corresponding to the individual catalytic domains and purified the recombinant proteins. A synergistic effect was observed when chitin was degraded in the...