Discovery of a Beetroot Protease Inhibitor to Identify and Classify Plant-Derived Cystine Knot Peptides

Plant peptide protease inhibitors are important molecules in seed storage metabolism and to fight insect pests. Commonly they contain multiple disulfide bonds and are exceptionally stable molecules. In this study, a novel peptide protease inhibitor from beetroot (Beta vulgaris) termed bevuTI-I was isolated, and its primary structure was determined via mass spectrometry-based amino acid sequencing. By sequence homology analysis a few peptides...