The enzyme, characterized from the archaeons Thermococcus kodakarensis and Pyrococcus horikoshii, deacetylates the non-reducing residue of N,N'-diacetylchitobiose, the end product of the archaeal chitinase, to produce beta-D-glucosaminyl-(1->4)-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. This is in contrast to EC 3.5.1.105, chitin disaccharide deacetylase, which deacetylates N,N'-diacetylchitobiose at the reducing residue to produce N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminyl-(1->4)-D-glucosamine.
Concerted action of diacetylchitobiose deacetylase and exo-beta-D-glucosaminidase in a novel chitinolytic pathway in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermococcus kodakaraensis KOD1.