Cloning of a Locusta cDNA encoding a precursor peptide for two structurally related proteinase inhibitors

Two peptides of respectively 35 and 36 residues were recently isolated from Locusta migratoria and their full structural characteristics were established by Edman degradation and mass spectrometry. These peptides were subsequently shown to have a proteinase inhibiting activity. We report here the cloning and characterization of a cDNA encoding a 92-residue precursor with three distinct domains: (I) a typical signal peptide of 19 residues; (II) the peptide sequence of the 35-residue inhibitor separated by a Lys-Arg dipeptide cleavage site from (III) the peptide sequence of the 36-residue inhibitor. We show by Northern blot analysis that the gene encoding this precursor is mainly transcribed in the cells of the fat body.