Abstract: A protein from adlay (Coix chinensis) seeds was isolated by degrease with acetone and ether, extraction with 20 mmol/L Tris-HCl buffer, ion exchange chromatography on Resource S column and size exclusion chromatography on Superdex 75 column. The purity was higher than 95%. Partial characterization and antifungal activity were assayed. The protein exhibited a molecule mass of 28 kD in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. This protein could exert potent inhibitory activity toward fungal species including Alternaria alternate, Trichoderma reesei and Panus conchatus in a dose-dependent pattern. Antifungal protein has become a popular research topic because of their resistance to pathogenic diseases. In this paper, the studies have demonstrated that adlay seeds have potentially exploitable significance and explored an effective method for the isolation and purification of antifungal proteins from plant seeds.

Key words: adlay seeds, antifungal protein, purification