Protein, cDNA, and genomic DNA sequences of the towel gourd trypsin inhibitor. A squash family inhibitor.

Two trypsin inhibitor components of the squash family were isolated and purified from the juice of the towel gourd (Luffa cylindrica) using anhydrotrypsin affinity chromatography followed by high pressure liquid chromatography. The inhibitors were sequenced and found to consist of 28 and 29 amino acid residues. The determined sequences show high similarity to other inhibitors of the squash family, especially in the location of disulfide bonds and the reactive site and also in the COOH-terminal region. A cDNA library of towel gourd was constructed and used as a template for polymerase chain reaction amplification of two cDNA fragments of the inhibitor with an overlapping sequence. A full-length cDNA sequence coding for the inhibitor was then completed. The open reading frame codes for a prepro-inhibitor protein with the pre- and pro-peptides consisting of 21 and 13 residues, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequence of 29 residues for the inhibitor is consistent with that determined by primary structure analysis. The genomic sequence of the mature inhibitor was also ascertained using the total DNA of the towel gourd as a polymerase chain reaction template. The genomic sequence is completely identical with that of the cDNA, showing no intervening sequence.