Impact of chitinases in biological control

Fungal pathogens cause many serious diseases and result significant agricultural losses around the world. Most of the diseases are caused by insect and fungal pathogens. Chitin is frequently used as a carbon source for fungi that have many chitinases. Chitin is an abundant biopolymer that is relatively resistant to degradation. Chitinases are capable of degrading fungal cell walls and are therefore thought to play a major role in the plant’s response. A number of chitinases have been shown to inhibit fungal growth of various fungi in vitro. The present review describes the properties of chitinase with respect to plant resistant improvement.