title: Isolation of a novel deoxyribonuclease with antifungal activity from Asparagus officinalis seeds.
abstract: A deoxyribonuclease distinct from the previously isolated asparagus ribosome-inactivating proteins, possessing a molecular weight of 30 kDa and requiring a pH of 7.5 for optimum hydrolytic activity toward herring sperm DNA, was isolated from Asparagus officinalis seeds. The isolation procedure involved extraction with saline, (NH(4))(2)SO(4) precipitation, 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. The doxyribonuclease was unadsorbed onto DEAE-cellulose and Affi-gel blue gel and adsorbed onto CM-Sepharose. It exhibited the novel N-terminal sequence, GIEVIKIREL. The deoxyribonuclease was purified to a specific activity of 1584 units/mg. It was devoid of ribonuclease, protease, and HIV-1 reverse transcriptase-inhibitory activities. However, it inhibited cell-free translation in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate system with an IC(50) of 20 microM. It exhibited antifungal activity toward Botrytis cinerea but not toward Fusarium oxysporum and Mycosphaerella arachidicola.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: T B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Ng
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D027761:Asparagus Plant / Q000201:enzymology*; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D003851:Deoxyribonucleases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005658:Fungi / Q000187:drug effects; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008970:Molecular Weight; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis / Q000187:drug effects; D011817:Rabbits; D012639:Seeds / Q000201:enzymology
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D003851:Deoxyribonucleases