ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF DOUBLE HEADED PROTEASE INHIBITORS FROM THE SEEDS OF ABELMOSCHUS MOSCHATUS

Muni Kumar Dokka; Siva Prasad Davuluri

Volume : IV, Issue : V, May - 2015

ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF DOUBLE HEADED PROTEASE INHIBITORS FROM THE SEEDS OF ABELMOSCHUS MOSCHATUS

Muni Kumar Dokka, Siva Prasad Davuluri

Abstract :

The main aim of the study was to investigate the antifungal potential of double headed protease inhibitors (AMTIIII & AMTI–IV) isolated from Abelmoschus moschatus seeds on selected pathogenic fungal strains. Both the inhibitors have been purified to homogeneity following the conventional methods of protein purification and they exhibited strong antitryptic and antichymotryptic and moderate antielastase activities. Apparent molecular weights of AMTI–III & AMTI–IV were determined to be 20.8 kDa and 20.2kDa respectively following gel filtration and SDS–PAGE. When tested in vitro, both the inhibitors significantly affected the growth of Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Asperigillus flavus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae,Candida glaata and Asperigillus niger and were ineffective against Fusarium oxysporum, Alternaria alternata, Mucor indicus and Penicillium chrysogenum. Results obtained in this study suggest that double headed protease inhibitors may serve as excellent candidates for the development of novel antimicrobial agents against human pathogenic diseases.