Protease Inhibitors and Their Application Against Plant Pathogens

Proteases cleave the peptide bonds in proteins and in this way prevent protein activity by degrading them. Proteases are classified into four categories: serine proteases, cysteine proteases, aspartic proteases and metalloproteases. Plant pathogens utilize these vital molecules in plant infecting process. In the other hand, the activity of proteases is inhibited by protease inhibitors of plants. Serine is one of the protease inhibitors. The plants produce the materials inhibiting pathogenic proteases. These molecules are produced in plant cells during pathogenic microorganisms and viruses attack. Protease inhibitors are divided into several families based on sequence similarity and structure. Because the risk of pathogen resistance to this defense strategy is low, it seems these molecules could be use for biological control against plant pathogens.