Cloning and functional analysis of a novel chitinase gene Trchi1 from Trichothecium roseum

A Contemporary Appraisal on Impending Industrial and Agricultural Applications of Thermophilic-Recombinant Chitinolytic Enzymes from Microbial Sources

The ability of chitinases to degrade the second most abundant polymer, chitin, into potentially useful chitooligomers and chitin derivatives has not only rendered them fit for chitinous waste management but has also made them important from industrial point of view. At the same time, they have also been recognized to have an imperative role as promising biocontrol agents for controlling plant diseases. As thermostability is an important property for an industrially important enzyme, various bacterial and fungal sources are being exploited to obtain such stable enzymes. These stable enzymes can also play a role in agriculture by maintaining their stability under adverse environmental conditions for longer time duration when used as biocontrol agent. Biotechnology has also played its role in the development of recombinant chitinases with enhanced activity, thermostability, fungicidal and insecticidal activity via recombinant DNA techniques. Furthermore, a relatively new approach of generating pathogen-resistant transgenic plants has opened new ways for sustainable agriculture by minimizing the yield loss of valuable crops and plants. This review focuses on the potential applications of thermostable and recombinant microbial chitinases in industry and agriculture.

Association between sheath blight resistance and chitinase activity in transgenic rice plants expressing McCHIT1 from bitter melon

No usable resources with high-level resistance to sheath blight (SB) have yet been found in rice germplasm resources worldwide. Therefore, creating and breeding new disease-resistant rice resources with sheath blight resistance (SBR) are imperative. In this study, we inoculated rice plants with hyphae of the highly pathogenic strain RH-9 of rice SB fungus Rhizoctonia solani to obtain eight stable transgenic rice lines harbouring the chitinase gene (McCHIT1) of bitter melon with good SBR in the T₅ generation. The mean disease index for SB of wild-type plants was 92% and 37-44% in transgenic lines. From 24 h before until 120 h after inoculation with R. solani, chitinase activity in stable transgenic plants with increased SBR was 2.0-5.5 and 1.8-2.7 times that of wild-type plants and plants of a disease-susceptible stable transgenic line, respectively. The correlation between SBR and chitinase activity in McCHIT1-transgenic rice line plants was significant. This work stresses how McCHIT1 from bitter melon can be used to protect rice plants from SB infection.

Overexpression of a Chitinase Gene from Trichoderma asperellum Increases Disease Resistance in Transgenic Soybean

In the present study, a chi gene from Trichoderma asperellum, designated Tachi, was cloned and functionally characterized in soybean. Firstly, the effects of sodium thiosulfate on soybean Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation with embryonic tip regeneration system were investigated. The transformation frequency was improved by adding sodium thiosulfate in co-culture medium for three soybean genotypes. Transgenic soybean plants with constitutive expression of Tachi showed increased resistance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum compared to WT plants. Meanwhile, overexpression of Tachi in soybean exhibited increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) level as well as peroxidase (POD) and catalase (SOD) activities, decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) content, along with diminished electrolytic leakage rate after S. sclerotiorum inoculation. These results suggest that Tachi can improve disease resistance in plants by enhancing ROS accumulation and activities of ROS scavenging enzymes and then diminishing cell death. Therefore, Tachi represents a candidate gene with potential application for increasing disease resistance in plants.

Co-expression of chimeric chitinase and a polygalacturonase-inhibiting protein in transgenic canola (Brassica napus) confers enhanced resistance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

OBJECTIVES

Sclerotinia stem rot (SSR) caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is one of the major fungal diseases of canola. To develop resistance against this fungal disease, the chit42 from Trichoderma atroviride with chitin-binding domain and polygalacturonase-inhibiting protein 2 (PG1P2) of Phaseolus vulgaris were co-expressed in canola via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.

RESULTS

Stable integration and expression of transgenes in T0 and T2 plants was confirmed by PCR, Southern blot and RT-PCR analyses. Chitinase activity and PGIP2 inhibition were detected by colorimetric and agarose diffusion assay in transgenic lines but not in untransformed plants. The crude proteins from single copy transformant leaves having high chitinase and PGIP2 activity (T16, T8 and T3), showed up to 44 % inhibition of S. sclerotiorum hyphal growth. The homozygous T2 plants, showing inheritance in Mendelian fashion (3:1), were further evaluated under greenhouse conditions for resistance to S. sclerotiorum. Intact plants contaminated with mycelia showed resistance through delayed onset of the disease and restricted size and expansion of lesions as compared to wild type plants.

CONCLUSIONS

Combined expression of chimeric chit42 and pgip2 in Brassica napus L. provide subsequent protection against SSR disease and can be helpful in increasing the canola production in Iran.