Phytophthora cinnamomi is a soil-borne
pseudofungus belonging to the Class Oomycetes or „water
moulds' in the Kingdom Chromista (Figure 1). Is one
among the most destructive species of Phytophthora
associated to the decline of forestry, ornamental and fruit
species, as well as of some 900 other woody perennial
plant species Associated with this oomycete is the ink
disease of Castanea Sativa Mill. Glucan endo-1,3-β-D-glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.39) catalyzes de hydrolysis of 1,3-β-D-glucoside linkages in
callose, laminarin and several carbohydrates found in the cell wall of plants and fungi. It is generally thought that
glucanases play a role in plant defense by digesting wall components of the fungal pathogen. In yeast, 1,3--
glucanases have been studied for their role in germination, sporulation, mating and cell growth since they are
regulated in cell cycle dependent manner, and are differentially expressed during vegetative growth, mating and
the late stages of sporulating diploid. In plant, 1,3--glucanases have been characterized for their major role in
plant defence, as well as for their involvement in germination, microsporogenesis and embryogenesis. In
oomycetes, glucanases have been studied on a biochemical level for their possible role in hyphal tip growth and
branching where there is thought to be a delicate balance between cell wall synthesis and hydrolyses.
In the present work, we obtained a fragment with 1231bp of the endo-1,3--glucanase gene by standard
PCR, using conserved primers and the whole genomic sequence with 2586 bp was obtained by amplifying the
previous sequence by asymmetric PCR. The gene expression was studied during growth in different carbon
sources and was also performed a time course of endo-1,3-β-D-glucosidase production
