Abstract:
Plants represent the major component of biota and have the capability to synthesize their food through the process of photosynthesis. Physiological and environmental changes affect their health and make them vulnerable to variety of diseases thus directly or indirectly affect other components of ecosystem. A large number of environmental issues are linked with the eradication of plant diseases with chemical compounds. Most of these diseases are caused by fungal and insect pathogens. Chitin is the main structural component of these organisms and thus the enzyme responsible to hydrolyze chitin content are receiving attention in regard to their development as biopesticides or chemical defense proteins in transgenic plants and in microbial biocontrol agents. Therefore, understanding the overview of chitinase will provide a basis for improving the pathogenic activity of potential biocontrol strains, for developing novel biological control strategies and for exploring their roles in the plant defense. The present review describes the properties of chitinase with respect to plant health improvement.