An antifungal peptide from baby lima bean.

A 6-kDa antifungal peptide with inhibitory activity on mycelial growth in Fusarium oxysporum, Mycosphaerella arachidicola, and Physalospora piricola was isolated from baby lima beans. The peptide suppressed growth in M. arachidicola with an IC(50) of 0.87 muM and inhibited activity of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase with an IC(50) of 4 muM. The peptide exhibited an N-terminal amino acid sequence similar to those of leguminous defensins. The isolation procedure comprised ion exchange chromatography on diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-cellulose, affinity chromatography on Affi-gel blue gel, ion exchange chromatography on carboxymethyl (CM)-cellulose, and gel filtration by fast protein liquid chromatography on Superdex 75. The peptide was unadsorbed on DEAE-cellulose and Affi-gel blue gel but was adsorbed on CM-cellulose.