Wheat Inhibitors of Heterologous alpha-Amylases : Characterization of Major Components from the Monomeric Class.
The four major components of the wheat monomeric alpha-amylase inhibitors (WMAI) from wheat, Triticum aestivum, endosperm have been isolated and characterized. Two of them, WMAI-1 and WMAI-2, are highly active against the alpha-amylase from the insect Tenebrio molitor and their N-terminal amino acid sequences indicate that they are closely related to each other (86% identical residues) and to the other members of the family (subunits of dimeric and tetrameric alpha-amylase inhibitors and trypsin inhibitors). WMAI-1, which is identical to the previously described 0.28 inhibitor, is encoded by a gene located in the short arm of chromosome 6D and WMAI-2 by a gene in the short arm of chromosome 6B. Components 3 and 4, which have blocked N-terminal residues, have identical internal amino acid sequences and are a separate class of proteins with respect to WMAI-1 and WMAI-2, although their amino acid composition and apparent molecular weights are quite similar. Their inhibitory activity versus alpha-amylases is either unstable during the purification process or due to contamination with other inhibitors.
Gomez
L
L
Departmento de Bioquímica, E.T.S. Ingenieros Agrónomos, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Sanchez-Monge
R
R
Lopez-Otín
C
C
Salcedo
G
G