Enzyme production: Cultivation of the isolate for chitinase production was carried out in 25 mL liquid mediwn in 1OO mL flasks for 48 h at 30°C on a rotary shaker (l50 rpm). After growth, the culture broth was centrifuged at 8000 rpm for 10 min and the supernatant was used for chitinase assay. Cell growth was measured by absorbance at 600 nm.