Plant Biochemistry

Antifungal proteins are produced by a variety of organisms including plants, fungi, vertebrates, and invertebrates. They are used to protect these organisms from attack by pathogenic fungi. They are a subject of intense investigations because fungal invasion of agricultural crops and farm animals can increase enormous economic losses. Various plant tissues including seeds produce antifungal proteins. There is a diversity of plant antifungal proteins including chitinases, chitin-binding proteins, cyclophilin-like proteins, defensins, lipid transfer proteins, miraculin-like proteins, nucleases, thaumatin-like proteins, etc. These different types of antifungal proteins differ from one another in amino acid sequence although they all exhibit antifungal activity. The aforementioned antifungal proteins are produced by leguminous as well as by nonleguminous plants.