The University of Hyderabad (UoH) has been granted a new patent for a method to separate and purify multifunctional Bowman-Birk and Kunitz inhibitors. This method was developed by two research scientists from the School of Life Sciences: Professor K. Padmasree and Dr MK Arunasree. Mariyamma Gujjarlapudi and Bharti Kotarya also participated in the experiments.
The patented technology has two main features. Firstly, it can separate the two plant proteins Bowman-Birk and Kunitz inhibitors, which are usually difficult to separate using traditional purification methods. Secondly, it can reduce the time required for their purification from around 10 days to less than 24 hours by using mild TCA extraction and trypsin affinity chromatography.
Prof. Padmasree explained that both Bowman-Birk and Kunitz inhibitors have important biological functions, including protecting plants from pests and pathogens. These protease inhibitors are particularly useful for farmers as they can effectively manage lepidopteran pests like the pod borer and castor semilooper, which can cause significant damage to important crop plants in India such as cotton, tobacco, groundnut, brinjal, tomato, bendi, capsicum, and castor.
