Chitin, the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature, occurs in fungi, some algae and many invertebrates, including insects. Thus, chitin synthesis and degradation could represent specific targets for fungicides and insecticides. Chitinases hydrolyze chitin into oligomers of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine at key points in the life cycles of organisms, consequently, chitinase inhibitors have become...

The pseudotrisaccharide allosamidin is a potent family 18 chitinase inhibitor with demonstrated biological activity against insects, fungi, and the Plasmodium falciparum life cycle. The synthesis and biological properties of several derivatives have been reported. The structural interactions of allosamidin with several family 18 chitinases have been determined by x-ray crystallography previousl...

Family 18 chitinases have the signature peptide DGXDXDXE forming the fourth beta-strand in the (beta/alpha)8-barrel of their catalytic domain. The carboxyl-end glutamic acid, E315 in Serratia marcescens chitinase A, serves as the acid/base during chitin hydrolysis, and the side-chain of the preceding aspartic acid, D313, helps to position correctly the N-acetyl moiety of the glycosyl sugar unde...

75-kDa chitinase, which showed potential as a biocontrol agent against Japanese pine sawyer, was characterized after purification from the integument of the fifth instar larvae of Bombyx mori by chromatography on diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-Toyoperal 650 (M), hydroxylapatite, and Fractogel EMD DEAE 650 (M) columns. The optimum pH was 6.0 toward N-acetylchitopentaose (GlcNAc5) and 10 toward glycolc...

The X-ray structure of chitinase from the fungal pathogen Coccidioides immitis has been solved to 2.2 A resolution. Like other members of the class 18 hydrolase family, this 427 residue protein is an eight-stranded beta/alpha-barrel. Although lacking an N-terminal chitin anchoring domain, the enzyme closely resembles the chitinase from Serratia marcescens. Among the conserved features are three...

cotton cultivar coker has been already transformed with recombinant pbi121-chi via agrobacterium tumefaciens. the t-dna region of pbi121-chi carries the chitinase (chi ) gene from bean and is under the control of the camv35s promoter. t1 and t2 progenies of transgenic cotton containing the chi gene were used in this study.  polymerase chain reaction (pcr), southern and western blotting data con...

chitin is one of the most important compounds of true fungi cell wall. this compound is used greatly in structural of nematodes egg shell including meloidogyne javanica. after chitin dissection by chitinase enzyme, convert to its sub units n-acetyl glucosamine. species of trichoderama genus due to high levels production of many hydrolytic enzymes including chitinase, protease and b-1,3-glucanas...

Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. Lycopersici is one of the major obstacles to the production of tomato which causes huge losses in tomato products worldwide. In order to increase the tolerance to this disease, a triple structure containing PR1, chitinase and glucanase genes controlled by 35S promoter was transferred to tomato. Eight days after planting on pre-culture me...

The entomopathogenic fungus Verticillium lecanii is a well-known biocontrol agent of fungal phytopathogens, as well as insect pests. A 42-kDa chitinase belonging to family 18 of the glycosyl hydrolases was isolated and partially characterized. Chitinase was purified using successive column chromatography on phenyl-sepharose, DEAE-sepharose, and CM-sepharose. The enzyme showed the highest activi...