Endochitinase fromGliocladium virens: Isolation, Characterization, and Synergistic Antifungal Activity in Combination with Gliotoxin

The culture filtrate from the biocontrol agent Gliocladium virens strain 41 grown in chitin-containing medium was strongly inhibitory to mycelial growth of different plant-pathogenic fungi. The antibiotic gliotoxin was isolated from the culture liquid. The culture filtrate also contained different types of chitinolytic enzyme activities, including endochitinase, chitin 1,4β-chitobiosidase, and glucan N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase, as well as glucan 1,3-β-glucosidase activity. An endochitinase was purified to homogeneity []