Isolation and Characterization of a Chitinase Gene Exhibiting Antifungal Activity Against Fusarium solani f. sp. melongenae from an Iranian Streptomyces strain

Fusarium solani f. sp. melongenae, the causal agent of egg plant wilt disease, has a wide host range which causes significant reduction in yield of eggplant (Solanum melongena). In a survey for finding biocontrol agents, 110 Actinomycetes strains were isolated from agricultural soils of Kerman province. Amony isolated strains 18 strain showed high level of chitinase activity Streptomyces griseus. Streptomyces isolate 401 significantly reduced the incidence of disease. Some biological and physiological characteristics of this isolate were investigated under green house condition. Moreover, the genomic DNA of this isolate was extracted by useing of CTAB method and a full chitinase gene (876 bp) was cloned and sequenced. The results showed high similarity between obrouned scyuence and seyuence of chitinasegene 19 fmily from.