An object of the present invention is to search and identify novel antifungal proteins capable of inhibiting the growth of plant pathogenic microorganisms including Magnaporthe grisea and Rhizoctonia solani causing two major rice diseases at relatively low concentrations, and further to clone a gene for said protein. The present invention provides an antifungal protein which can be obtained from fraction(s) precipitated by ammonium sulfate precipitation using an aqueous extract from Pleurotus cornucopiae, wherein said protein has an antifungal activity against at least rice blast, and exhibits existence of a component having a molecular weight of about 15 kDa as determined by SDS-PAGE method； a gene encoding said protein and uses thereof.
