Transition of Bacterial Community structure in Chitin-treated Upland Soil

Chitin, which is a polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, is the most abundant renewable natural resource after cellulose. It is widely distributed in nature, particularly in marine invertebrates, insects, fungi, and algae. Supplementing soil with chitin is effective at suppressing plant-pathogenic fungi and nematodes. We previously indicated exponential decrease of chitin added to an incubated upland soil. Here we investigated, in the chitin-degrading soil samples, the transition of bacterial community structure over time and the characteristics of chitinolytic bacteria, to elucidate the changes of chitinolytic bacterial community structure during the chitin-degradation.