A trypsin inhibitor from snail medic seeds active against pest proteases

A protein trypsin inhibitor from seeds of snail medic (Medicago scutellata), MsTI, has been purified by ion-exchange chromatography, gel-filtration chromatography and reverse-phase HPLC. The protein inhibits the catalytic activity of bovine beta-trypsin, with an apparent Kd of 1.8 x 10(-9), but exhibits no activity towards bovine alpha-chymotrypsin. Moreover, MsTI inhibits the trypsin-like proteinase activity present in larvae of the crop pests Adoxophyes orana, Hyphantria cunea, Lobesia botrana and Ostrinia nubilalis. The complete amino acid sequence of MsTI consists of 62 residues corresponding to a M(r) of 6925. Sequence comparison shows that MsTI exhibits significant similarity to other proteins belonging to the Bowman-Birk trypsin inhibitor family, and the closest identity (81%) with the wound-induced trypsin inhibitor from Medicago sativa leaves.