Prokaryotic chitinases, class III plant chitinases, yeast chitinases, and endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidases share weak amino acid sequence similarities at the certain region of each enzyme. These regions have been assumed to be important for catalytic activities of the enzymes. To verify this assumption, three amino acid residues (Ser-160, Asp-200, Glu-204) in chitinase A1 of Bacillus circulans WL-12 were chosen, based on the amino acid sequence alignment of the regions sharing sequence similarity, and were replaced by site-directed mutagenesis. Kinetic parameters for 4-methylumbelliferyl-N,N',N"-triacetylchitotriose hydrolysis were determined with wild-type and seven mutant chitinases. Chitinases with Glu-204-->Gln mutation and Glu-204-->Asp mutation were essentially inactive and kcat values of these chitinases were approximately 1/5,000 and 1/17,000 of that of wild-type chitinase, respectively. Asp-200-->Asn mutation decreased the kcat value to approximately 1/350 of that of the wild-type enzyme, while the Km value decreased only slightly. On the other hand, neither the kcat value nor the Km value was affected by Asp-200-->Glu mutation. Thus, it appeared that Glu-204 and Asp-200 are directly involved in the catalytic events of chitinase A1. The role of the carboxyl group of Asp-200 can be fully substituted by that of Glu residue. The Ser-160-->Ala mutant retained 10% activity of the wild-type chitinase indicating that the hydroxyl group of Ser-160 is not absolutely required for the catalytic activity. These results indicate a lysozyme-type catalytic mechanism of the chitinase.