Isolation of pisumin,a novel antifungal protein from legumes of the sugar snap pea Pisum sativum var macrocarpon

An antifungal protein with a novel N-terminal sequence GVGAAYGCFG and a molecular mass of 31 kDa was isolated from the legumes of the sugar snap pea Pisum sativum var. macrocarpon. The protein, designated pisumin, exhibited antifungal activity against Coprinus comatus and Pleurotus ostreatus and much weaker activity against Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia solani. Pisumin inhibited cell-free translation in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate system with an IC(50) of 6 microM. Pisumin was similar to other leguminous antifungal proteins in that it was adsorbed on Affi-gel blue gel and CM-Sepharose.     

Purification of allivin,a novel antifungal protein from bulbs of the round-cloved garlic

A novel antifungal protein, designated allivin, was isolated from bulbs of the round-cloved garlic Allium sativum var. round clove with a procedure involving ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, affinity chromatography on Affi-gel blue gel, ion exchange chromatography on CM-Sepharose and FPLC-gel filtration on Superdex 75. Allivin possessed an N-terminal sequence demonstrating very little similarity to sequences of Allium sativum chitinases and ribosome inactivating proteins. Allivin exhibited a molecular weight of 13 kDa in gel filtration and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. It displayed antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea, Mycosphaerella arachidicola and Physalospora piricola. It inhibited translation in a cell-free rabbit reticulocyte system with an IC50 of 1.6 microM.     

Sativin: a novel antifungal miraculin-like protein isolated from legumes of the sugar snap Pisum sativum var. macrocarpon

An antifungal protein designated sativin was isolated from the legumes of the sugar snap (also known as honey pea) Pisum sativum var. macrocarpon. The procedure entailed extraction, affinity chromatography on Affi-gel blue gel and ion exchange chromatography on CM-Sepharose. The protein exhibited a molecular weight of 38 kDa in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. It possessed an N-terminal amino acid sequence which showed similarity to those of miraculin (a sweet protein) and pisavin (a ribosome-inactivating protein from Pisum sativum var arvense Poir manifesting similarity to miraculin). Unlike pisavin, however, sativin demonstrated negligible ribonuclease activity and inhibited translation in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate system with a very low potency (IC50= 14 microM). Sativin exerted antifungal activity against Fusarium oxysporum, Coprinus comatus and Pleurotus ostreatus but not against Rhizoctonia solani.     

Bacisubin, an antifungal protein with ribonuclease and hemagglutinating activities from Bacillus subtilis strain B-916

An antifungal protein, with a molecular mass of 41.9 kDa, and designated as bacisubin, was isolated from a culture of Bacillus subtilis strain B-916. The isolation procedure consisted of ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sepharose Fast Flow, and fast protein liquid chromatography on Phenyl Sepharose 6 Fast Flow and hydroxyapatite columns. The protein was adsorbed on all three chromatographic media. Bacisubin exhibited inhibitory activity on mycelial growth in Magnaporthe grisease, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Rhizoctonia solani, Alternaria oleracea, A. brassicae and Botrytis cinerea. The IC50 values of its antifungal activity toward the last four fungal species were 4.01 microM, 0.087 microM, 0.055 microM and 2.74 microM, respectively. Bacisubin demonstrated neither protease activity, nor protease inhibitory activity. However, it manifested ribonuclease and hemagglutinating activities.     

Solenin, a novel protein with translation-inhibiting activity from the traditional Chinese medicinal fish, the sea dragon Solenognathus hardwickii

A single-chained protein designated solenin was isolated from Solenognathus hardwickii, a fish used as traditional Chinese medicinal material. Solenin was capable of inhibiting translation in a cell-free rabbit reticulocyte lysate system with an IC(50) of 2 microM and expressing a ribonuclease activity of 0.8U/mg toward yeast transfer RNA, but it lacked N-glycosidase activity characteristic of ribosome inactivating proteins Solenin exhibited a molecular weight of 18kDa and possessed an N-terminal sequence AHDAEVNEVKAQVAA. The protein was adsorbed on three types of chromatographic media: Affi-gel blue gel, CM-Sepharose and Mono S. It was devoid of antifungal and lectin activities.