Friedrich Miescher-Institut, Basel, Switzerland.
The fungicidal type I chitinases contribute to the defense response of plants against pathogens. Two tobacco chitinases represent a different class of hydroxyproline-containing proteins. Hydroxyproline-rich proteins are predominantly extracellular, structural glycoproteins proteins that lack enzymatic activity and contain many hydroxyproline residues. In contrast, type I chitinases are vacuolar enzymes. They are not glycosylated and contain a small number of hydroxyproline residues restricted to a single, short peptide sequence.