TY  - JOUR
AU  - Vanspati, Poonam
AU  - Tripathi, Bhumi Nath
T1  - Structural and Functional Characterisation of the Chitinase Gene in Chickpea under Aluminum Stress
JO  - Journal of Stress Physiology & Biochemistry
Y1  - 2025/december
VL  - 21
IS  - 4
SP  - 216
EP  - 232
UR  - http://www.jspb.ru/issues/2025/N4/JSPB_2025_4_216-232.pdf
KW  - Aluminum toxicity
KW  - Chitinase 10
KW  - Cicer arietinum
KW  - Molecular docking
KW  - Structural characterization
U1  - 1997-0838
N2  - Aluminum (Al³⁺) toxicity in acidic soils severely limits chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) productivity by impairing root growth and suppressing defence responses. Chitinases are well studied for antifungal activity, but their role under aluminum stress is largely unknown. We present the first structural and functional characterization of chickpea Chitinase 10 (XP_004494478.1) under Al³⁺ stress using in silico approaches. Multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis revealed strong conservation and close relatedness to legumes such as Medicago truncatula and Cajanus cajan. Conserved domain mapping and 3D modeling confirmed a stable GH19 catalytic fold. The protein–protein interaction analysis demonstrated that Chitinase 10 is acting as a central hub in the stress responses, while the molecular docking analysis demonstrated that Fe³⁺ attaches strongly to a distant site, while Al³⁺ attached comparatively weakly but destructively to the catalytic site near Lys46, Glu228 and Asp231, inhibiting the activity of the enzyme. Our findings reveal that aluminum disrupts the function of Chitinase 10 by disrupting the catalytic site, disrupting its antifungal mode of action. This mechanistic connection indicates that aluminum toxicity disrupts plant defence and provides structural basis to inform breeding or biotechnological applications to improve aluminum tolerance in chickpea.
ER  -