[Study of the amino acid sequence of latroinsectotoxin from black widow spider venom]

The N-terminal amino acid sequence of alpha-latroinsectotoxin from the venom of Latrodectus mactans tredecimguttatus was determined. Then the toxin was digested by trypsin and total or partial amino acid sequences of twenty-six tryptic peptides were established. This resulted in the structural information needed for the construction of probes followed by the cloning of the alpha-latroinsectotoxin structural gene.