The X-ray structure of chitinase from the fungal
pathogen Coccidioides immitis has been solved
to 2.2 Å resolution. Like other members of the class
18 hydrolase family, this 427 residue protein is an eight-stranded
β/α-barrel. Although lacking an N-terminal chitin
anchoring domain, the enzyme closely resembles the chitinase
from Serratia marcescens. Among the conserved
features are three cis peptide bonds, all involving
conserved active site residues. The active site is formed
from conserved residues such as tryptophans 47, 131, 315,
378, tyrosines 239 and 293, and arginines 52 and 295. Glu171
is the catalytic acid in the hydrolytic mechanism; it was
mutated to a Gln, and activity was abolished. Allosamidin
is a substrate analog that strongly inhibits the class
18 enzymes. Its binding to the chitinase hevamine has been
observed, and we used conserved structural features of
the two enzymes to predict the inhibitors binding to the
fungal enzyme.