title: Novel antifungal defensins from Nigella sativa L. seeds.
abstract: From seeds of Nigella sativa L. (Ranunculaceae), an endemic plant of Uzbekistan, two novel defensins named Ns-D1 and Ns-D2, were isolated and sequenced. The peptides differ by a single amino acid residue and show high sequence similarity to Raphanus sativus L. defensins Rs-AFP1 and Rs-AFP2. The Ns-D1 and Ns-D2 defensins display strong although divergent antifungal activity towards a number of phytopathogenic fungi. High antifungal activity of N. sativa defensins makes them promising candidates for engineering pathogen-resistant plants.
authors.affiliation: Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya Str. 16/10, 117997 Moscow, Russian Federation. rea21@list.ru
authors.forename: Eugene A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Rogozhin
authors.forename: Yulia I
authors.initials: YI
authors.lastname: Oshchepkova
authors.forename: Tatyiana I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Odintsova
authors.forename: Natalia V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Khadeeva
authors.forename: Olga N
authors.initials: ON
authors.lastname: Veshkurova
authors.forename: Tsezi A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Egorov
authors.forename: Eugene V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Grishin
authors.forename: Shavkat I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Salikhov
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D023082:Defensins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D031881:Nigella sativa / Q000737:chemistry*; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000935:Antifungal Agents; D023082:Defensins