Antifungal Proteins: Potent Candidate for Inhibition of Pathogenic Fungi
Anu Singh, Neetu Phougat, Manish Kumar and A. K. Chhillar
Pages 101-112 (12)
Fungi are far more complex organisms than viruses or bacteria and can develop numerous diseases in plants
that cause loss of big portion of the crop every year. Another important aspect is that many filamentous fungi are destructive
human pathogens and are thus responsible for enormous diseases in humans. A series of molecules with antifungal
activity against different strains of fungi have been found in plants, which are of great importance to humans. Plants have
developed various mechanisms to defend themselves against these fungi which include the production of low molecular
weight secondary metabolites, proteins and peptides having antifungal activity. In this review, brief information like structure,
source, mode of action of defense mechanism and their promising contribution in the field of medicine and agriculture
is discussed. These molecules may be used directly or considered as a precursor for developing molecules with better
therapeutic values. This review attempts to summarize the current status of important antifungal proteins from various
natural occurring sources like plants, bacteria and insects.
Pathogenesis-related proteins, β-glucanase, chitinases, thaumatin like protein.
Centre for Biotechnology, M. D. University, Rohtak, Haryana-124001, India.