Expression of a chitinase gene from chaetomium cupreum in saccharomyces cerevisiae

Chitinases perform a key role in defense mechanisms of biocontrol fungi against pathogenic fungi. A chitinase gene (designated Chi46) of C. cupreum which has a potential against a range of plant pathogens was amplified by RT-PCR and then integrated into the genomic DNA of pYES2 by insertion into a single site for recombination, yielding the recombinant pYES2/Chit46, which was used to transform to S. cerevisiae H158. Chitinase expression of recombinant was induced by galactose and repressed by glucose. The enzyme activity reached the peak expression after cultured for 48 h with pH 6.0 (maximal activity 1.96 units mL
^-1
).