A highly chitinolytic strain Penicillium ochrochloron MTCC 517 was procured from MTCC, Chandigarh, India. Culture medium supplemented with 1% chitin was found to be suitable for maximum production of chitinase. Purification of extracellular chitinase was done from the culture medium by organic solvent precipitation and DEAE-cellulose column chromatography. The chitinase was purified 6.92-fold with 29.9% yield. Molecular mass of purified chitinase was found to be 64 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The chitinase showed optimum temperature 40 degrees C and pH 7.0. The enzyme activity was completely inhibited by Hg2+, Zn2+, K+ and NH4+ The enzyme kinetic study of purified chitinase revealed the following characteristics, such as apparent K-m 1.3 mg ml(-1), V-max 5.523 x 10(-5) moles l(-1) min(-1) and K-cat 2.37s(-1) and catalytic efficiency 1.82(s-1) M-1. The enzyme hydrolyzed colloidal chitin, glycol chitin, chitosan, glycol chitosan, N,N'-diacetylchitobiose, p-nitrophenyl N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminide and 4-methylumbelliferyl N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminide. The chitinase of P. ochrochloron MTCC 517 is an exoenzyme, which gives N-acetylglucosamine as the main hydrolyzate after hydrolysis of colloidal chitin. Protoplasts with high regeneration capacity were obtained from Aspergillus niger using chitinase from P. ochrochloron MTCC 517. Since it also showed antifungal activity, P. ochrochloron MTCC 517 seems to be a promising biocontrol agent. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.