Chitinases have many applications in various fields such as environment, agriculture, and medicine. Chitinolytic bacteria, which are found in various natural environments including the rhizosphere, soil, marine ecosystems, lakes, and chitinous waste, can be used for the degradation of chitin-containing wastes as well as in the production of chitinolytic enzymes with fungicidal activity against some fungal phytopathogens. This study consisted of isolating and screening chitinolytic bacteria based on a chitinase activity assay using the diffusion plate and colorimetric methods. Thirty-two chitinase-producing bacterial strains were isolated from Liliumrhizosphere soil. There were four strains, namely HP02, VRQ9, HM03, and GL10, which exhibited the highest chitinase activities, with values of 1.47, 1.44, 1.29, and 1.21 U/ml, respectively. These chitinase-producing bacterial strains were tested for antagonistic activity against the causal agent of bulb and stem rots of lilies,Fusarium oxysporum, and the results indicated antifungal activity of the four strains HP02, VRQ9, HM03, and GL10. The HP02 strain had the highest level of chitinase activity and was capable of being antagonistic to Fusarium oxysporum. Based on morphological and biochemical characteristics, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis of this sequence along with sequences from GenBank, HP02 was identified as Bacillus subtilis.
