Proteinase inhibitor from ginkgo seeds is a member of the plant nonspecific lipid transfer protein gene family

A 9-kD proteinase inhibitor was isolated from the seeds of ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) and purified to homogeneity. This protein was revealed to partial-noncompetitively inhibit the aspartic acid proteinase pepsin and the cysteine proteinase papain (inhibition constant = 10(-5)-10(-4) M). The cDNA of the inhibitor was revealed to contain a 357-bp open reading frame encoding a 119-amino acid protein with a potential signal peptide (27 residues), indicating that this protein is synthesized as a preprotein and secreted outside the cells. Semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction revealed that this gene expresses only in seeds, not in stems, leaves, and roots, suggesting that the protein is involved in seed development and/ or germination. The inhibitor showed about 40% sequence homology with type-I nonspecific lipid transfer protein (nsLTP1) from other plant species. Actually, this inhibitor exerted both lipid transfer activity and lipid-binding activity, while the protein did not show any antifungal and antibacterial activities. Furthermore, the site-directed mutagenesis study using a recombinant ginkgo nsLTP1 revealed that proline (Pro)-79 and phenylalanine-80 are important on phospholipid transfer activity and that Pro-79 and isoleucine-82 are essential for the binding activity toward cis-unsaturated fatty acids. On the other hand, the alpha-helical content of P79A and F80A mutants was significantly lower than that of the wild-type protein. It was noteworthy that the papain-inhibitory activity of P79A and F80A mutants was elevated twice as much as that of the wild-type protein. In summary, we concluded that Pro-79 plays a critical role in both the lipid transfer and binding activities of ginkgo nsLTP1.