Purification and characterization of a 40.8-kDa cutinase in ungerminated conidia of Botrytis cinerea Pers.: Fr.

Cytoplasmic soluble proteins from ungerminated conidia of Botrytis cinerea exhibited cutinase activity. A 40.8-kDa cutinase was purified to homogeneit y from this crude conidial protein extract. This cutinase does not correspo nd either to constitutive or to induced lytic cutin enzymes already describ ed by other authors. The possible role of this constitutive cutinase in the induction of other cutinolytic proteins in the early stages of infection o f plants by B. cinerea is discussed. (C) 1999 Federation of European Microb iological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved .