A thermostable extracellular chitinase from culture supernatant of a thermophilic fungus Thermomyces lanuginosus was purified to SDS-PAGE homogeneity, by using ammonium sulfate fraction, DEAE-Sepharose Fast flow chromatography, Pheny1-Sepharose Fast Flow chromatography. A molecular mass of the purified enzyme was between 48~49.8kD determined by SDS-PAGE and gel filtration chromatography. The chitinase exhibited optimum catalytic activity at pH 4.5 and 55℃ respectively. It was thermostable at 50℃ and retain...