Isolation, characterisation and antifungal activity of β-1,3-glucanase from seeds of Jatropha curcas

A β-1,3-glucanase was isolated from Jatropha curcas using Sephadex G-75, SP Sepharose FF and HiPrepSephacrayS-100HR chromatography columns, successively. It exhibited a molecular weight (Mr) of 65-66kD consisting of three sub-units with non-covalent bond conjugate, as estimated using 8% (w/v) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), 5–20% sodium dodecyl sulfate gradient polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-gradient PAGE) and gel filtration on a Sephadex G-75 column, respectively. The protein had an isoelectric point (pI) of 8.3 shown by isoelectric focusing (IEF). It exerted in vitro antifungal activity against Rhizoctonia solani Kuha. and Gibberelle zeae (Schw.) Petch. by hydrolysing cell walls of fungi. It was slightly toxic to mice LD50 2.2g kg− 1. This protein may be a useful biological fungicide.