Activity-guided isolation of a novel protein from Croton tiglium with antifungal and antibacterial activities.

This study describes the activity-guided isolation and purification of a novel antimicrobial protein from the seed of Croton tiglium Linn. Purification was carried out by (NH(4))(2)SO(4) precipitation, gel filtration and DEAE-cellulose ion-exchange chromatography. Antifungal and antibacterial activities were determined after each purification step. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed that the purified protein was a monomer with molecular mass of 50 kDa. This is a first report on purification of a protein from Croton tiglium, which possesses a strong and broad spectrum antimicrobial activity.