Macromolecular Insect Chitinase Inhibitors Produced by Fungi: Screening and Partial Characterization

抄録

Culture broths of fungal strains were screened for novel insect chitinase inhibitors using the Spodoptera litura chitinase inhibitory assay. The culture filtrates of 5 strains showed potent and specific inhibitory activity against the insect chitinase. Partial characterization showed that the active compounds produced by these strains were water-soluble macromolecular compounds which had not been hitherto reported as chitinase inhibitors. These novel chitinase inhibitors are, therefore, expected to be potential agents for insect control.