LysR-type transcriptional regulator ChiR is essential for production of all chitinases and a chitin-binding protein, CBP21, in Serratia marcescens 2170.

To identify the genes required for chitinase production by Serratia marcescens 2170, various Tn5 mutants somehow defective in chitinase production were isolated in a previous study. In order to identify the mutated gene in one of the chitinase-deficient mutants, N1, DNA regions flanking the Tn5 insertion were cloned and sequenced. Sequence comparison showed that the mutation occurred in the ORF located between chiB and cbp, which encode chitinase B and chitin-binding protein CBP21, respectively. The ORF encodes a 313-amino acid polypeptide which has significant similarity with various LysR-type transcriptional regulators, and thus the gene was designated chiR. Targeted mutagenesis confirmed that disruption of the chiR gene results in the phenotype of N1. Gel mobility shift assays using partially purified ChiR protein demonstrated that this protein specifically binds to the intergenic region between chiR and cbp. These results strongly suggest that ChiR is a LysR-type transcriptional regulator which is essential for production of all chitinases and CBP21.