[Thermophilic chitinolytic microorganisms of brown semidesert soil]

In brown semidesert soil, thermophilic prokaryotic organisms identified as Streptomyces roseolilacinus and Silanimonas lenta were shown to play the main role in chitin transformation at 50 degrees C. The phylogenetic positions of the isolated dominant chitinolytic microorganisms were determined on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The consumption of chitin as a source of carbon and nitrogen by both the bacterium and the actinomycete was shown by considerable biomass accumulation, high emission of carbon dioxide, and presence in the medium of the chitinase exoenzyme.