Arabidopsis<i>Chitinases</i>: a Genomic Survey

Plant chitinases (EC 3.2.1.14) belong to relatively large gene families subdivided in classes that suggest class-specific functions. They are commonly induced upon the attack of pathogens and by various sources of stress, which led to associating them with plant defense in general. However, it is becoming apparent that most of them display several functions during the plant life cycle, including taking part in developmental processes such as pollination and embryo development. The number of chitinases combined with their multiple functions has been an obstacle to a better understanding of their role in plants. It is therefore important to identify and inventory all chitinase genes of a plant species to be able to dissect their function and understand the relations between the different classes. Complete sequencing of the Arabidopsis genome has made this task feasible and we present here a survey of all putative chitinase-encoding genes accompanied by a detailed analysis of their sequence. Based on their characteristics and on studies on other plant chitinases, we propose an overview of their possible functions as well as modified annotations for some of them.