Patent ID: 8377650

Claim:
A method of enhancing chitin degradation comprising the steps: (i) adding simultaneously or sequentially in either order a chitin binding protein (CBP) and a chitin hydrolase to a chitin substrate to produce a chitin degradation mixture, and (ii) incubating said mixture for at least 2 hours at a temperature appropriate for enhancing chitin degradation, wherein said CBP comprises (a) CBP21, as set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 or amino acids 28-197 of SEQ ID NO: 1, or (b) a functional variant thereof which retains one or more of: a tyrosine residue at position 54, a glutamic acid residue at position 55, a glutamic acid residue at position 60, a histidine residue at position 114, an aspartic acid residue at position 182 and an asparagine residue at position 185, wherein the positions are according to the numbering of SEQ ID NO:1, wherein the CBP enhances chitin degradation, and wherein said CBP is synthetic or recombinant or said CBP is isolated, extracted, purified, or concentrated from a microorganism which naturally produces said CBP or from a supernatant into which said microorganism has secreted said CBP.