Although Vietnam is a country with strengths in agriculture, up to now, post-harvest fruit and vegetable preservation technology has not been given due attention, and the annual rate of damage caused by pests and diseases in agricultural products is often very large. Anthracnose is a common fruit and vegetable disease caused by the fungus Colletotrichum sp. This disease occurs in mangoes, dragon fruits, avocados and chili peppers. The ability of Colletotrichum sp to cause damage to agricultural products before and after harvest making them ranked in the top 10 most dangerous mushrooms in the world. Currently, the main method of preventing anthracnose in agricultural production is still spraying fungicides (chemicals) on crops. The disadvantage of these drugs is that their antifungal spectrum is quite narrow, has the ability to stimulate resistance, and is easily abused, leading to harm to the environment and consumer health. Chitinases are a group of chitin-hydrolyzing enzymes present in many fungal species of the genus Trichoderma. Thanks to that property, chitinase can be applied in agricultural production, especially post-harvest agricultural products, to control fungal pathogens whose cell walls contain chitin. This is a safe biological method of fungicides and does not affect consumer health. The objective of the project is to produce a recombinant chitinase product derived from the fungus Trichoderma asperellum SH16 in the plant Nicotiana benthamiana using agroinfiltration technique and testing the antifungal application of Colletotrichum spp. causes anthracnose on some valuable fruits and vegetables such as mango, avocado, dragon fruit and chili. Pathogenic fungal strains will be isolated and identified. The DNA sequence encoding chitinase was optimized using different methods to improve the structural stability of the enzyme and enhance expression under pilot-scale production conditions. Recombinant chitinase after recovery with high efficiency and strong chitin hydrolysis activity will be researched and mixed to create products and tested for fungicidal effectiveness on research subjects. The results of the project will make a practical contribution to the development of a method of producing biofungicides that is safe, low cost and easy to apply to preserve agricultural products after harvest. Of course, this method is not limited to the fungus that causes anthracnose in some fruits and vegetables, but can also be expanded to control many other pathogens in other agricultural products and by other enzyme preparations.
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