CHITINASE, DNA CODING THEREFOR AND PLANTS CONTAINING SAME

摘要

The present invention provides a novel class of plant chitinases, which have endo-chitinase activity, antifungal activity and a molecular weight of about 40 to 43 kDa as judged by Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate Polyacrylamide electrophoresis. The invention further provides antifungal compositions comprising as active ingredient a chitinase according to the invention. According to a different aspect of the invention a isolated DNA sequence is provided which comprises an open reading frame encoding a novel chitinase. The invention also encompasses a plant expressible recombinant DNA sequence which comprises a DNA sequence encoding a chitinase according to the invention, as well as plant cells and plants which have such recombinant DNA incorporated into their genome.