1. Novel antifungal peptides from Ceylon spinach seeds
H Wang, T B Ng Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2001 Nov 9;288(4):765-70. doi: 10.1006/bbrc.2001.5822.
Two novel antifungal peptides, designated alpha- and beta-basrubrins, respectively, were isolated from seeds of the Ceylon spinach Basella rubra. The purification procedure involved saline extraction, (NH(4))(2)SO(4) precipitation, ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, affinity chromatography on Affi-gel blue gel, ion exchange chromatography on CM-cellulose and FPLC-gel filtration on Superdex peptide column. alpha- and beta-basrubrins exhibited a molecular weight of 4.3 and 5 kDa, respectively. They inhibited translation in a rabbit reticulocyte system with an IC(50) value of 400 and 100 nM, respectively. alpha- and beta-basrubrin inhibited HIV-1 reverse transcriptase by (79.4 +/- 7.8)% and (54.6 +/- 3.6)%, respectively, at a concentration of 400 microM, and (10.56 +/- 0.92)% and (2.12 +/- 0.81)%, respectively, at a concentration of 40 microM. Both alpha- and beta-basrubrins exerted potent antifungal activity toward Botrytis cinerea, Mycosphaerella arachidicola, and Fusarium oxysporum.
2. Isolation of cucurmoschin, a novel antifungal peptide abundant in arginine, glutamate and glycine residues from black pumpkin seeds
H X Wang, T B Ng Peptides. 2003 Jul;24(7):969-72. doi: 10.1016/s0196-9781(03)00191-8.
A novel antifungal peptide, with a molecular mass of 8 kDa in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and in gel filtration on Superdex 75 and designated cucurmoschin, was isolated from the seeds of the black pumpkin. The peptide was unadsorbed on DEAE-cellulose but adsorbed on Affi-gel blue gel. Cucurmoschin inhibited mycelial growth in the fungi Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium oxysporum and Mycosphaerella oxysporum. It inhibited translation in a cell-free rabbit reticulocyte lysate system with an IC50 of 1.2 microM. The N-terminal sequence of cucurmoschin was rich in arginine, glutamate and glycine residues.
3. Isolation and characterization of luffacylin, a ribosome inactivating peptide with anti-fungal activity from sponge gourd (Luffa cylindrica) seeds
A Parkash, T B Ng, W W Tso Peptides. 2002 Jun;23(6):1019-24. doi: 10.1016/s0196-9781(02)00045-1.
A purification scheme involving ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, affinity chromatography on Affi-gel blue gel, and ion exchange chromatography on CM-Sepharose and Mono S was employed to isolate a peptide with a molecular weight of 7.8kDa from sponge gourd seeds. The peptide, which was designated luffacylin, exhibited an N-terminal sequence with pronounced resemblance to that of the 6.5kDa arginine-glutamate rich polypeptide previously isolated from sponge gourd seeds. Luffacylin inhibited translation in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate system with an IC(50) of 140pM and reacted positively in the N-glycosidase assay for ribosome inactivating proteins. Luffacylin exerted anti-fungal activity against Mycosphaerella arachidicola and Fusarium oxysporum.
