Poster: Genomics Resources

Abs # 940: Molecular cloning of chitinase from green bamboo Bambusa oldhami

Presenter:	Tsai, Pei-Fang , r90623601@ms90.ntu.edu.tw
Authors	Tsai, Pei-Fang  (A)   Wang, Ai-Yu  (A)   Sung, Hsien-Yi  (A)
Affiliations:	(A): Department of Agricultural Chemistry, National Taiwan University

Chitinase (EC 3.2.1.14) in plants is thought to play a crucial role in defense against fungal pathogens, because of its ability to hydrolyze chitin, the primary component of fungal cell walls. A cDNA encoding chitinase (named BoCHT1), was cloned from a bamboo-shoot cDNA library. It contains an open reading frame of 1005 bp encoding a polypeptide of 335 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass of 35.2 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence for BoCHT1 cDNA shows typical features of the class I chitinase, including the signal peptide, chitin binding domain, hinge region, and catalytic domain. BoCHT1 shares 80%, 76%, and 45% homology in amino acid level with class I chitinases of rice, rye, and arabidopsis, respectively. Chitinase activity was detected in various portions of the bamboo shoot, with the highest specific activity found in the outer sheath of the shoot. This result implies that chitinases in bamboo shoots may protect the plant from invasion by potential pathogens.