VIEW ARTICLE

Ecology and Epidemiology

The Role of Chitinase of Serratia marcescens in Biocontrol of Sclerotium rolfsii. Arie Ordentlich, Research assistant, Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agriculture, Rehovot 76100, Israel; Yigal Elad(2), and Ilan Chet(3). (2)Researcher, Department of Plant Pathology, ARO, Volcani Center, Beit Dagan 50250, Israel; (3)Professor, Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agriculture, Rehovot 76100, Israel. Phytopathology 78:84-88. Accepted for publication 20 May 1987. Copyright 1988 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-78-84.

Serratia marcescens was grown on cell wall of Sclerotium rolfsii and its components, chitin and laminarin, as a sole carbon source. A culture filtrate, possessing chitinolytic activity, was obtained and incubated with different substrates, including S. rolfsii cell wall, dry mycelium, and washed mycelium. A release of N-acetyl-d-glucosamine at rates of 1x5.2 chitinase units indicated substrate degradation. Degradation of hyphae of the plant pathogen was observed by light and scanning electron microscopy. Crude chitinase caused very swift swelling at the hyphal tips of the fungus. Sixty-three percent of the cells of the hyphal tips lysed.