THE EFFLUENT OF NATURAL-RUBBER FACTORIES IS ENRICHED IN THE ANTIFUNGAL PROTEIN HEVEIN

Hevein is a small cystine-rich protein with a polypeptide chain length of 43 residues. It occurs in the lutoid body fraction of rubber latex , has affinity for chitin, and inhibits fungal growth. It was isolated from the effluent of a rubber factory in a yield of about 0.7 g/l. Th e elution position of the protein on reversed-phase HPLC, analysis by ion-spray mass spectrometry and its one-dimensional NMR spectrum indic ated that it was identical to the protein isolated from the lutoid-bod y fraction. The total amount of other proteins in the effluent from th e rubber production was less than 0.2 g/l. This means that the effluen t of rubber factories is a very suitable source for the isolation of a protein that presumably has antifungal properties.