Indian Journal of Agricultural Biochemistry

Protease inhibitors in legumes are one of the most promising weapons that confer resistance against insects by inhibiting proteases such as trypsin present in the gut of insect larvae. In the present study, 60 cultivars of six indigenous legumes have been screened for trypsin inhibitor which ranged from 5.8 trypsin units inhibited/mg protein in cowpea (Pusa komal) to 76.7 trypsin units inhibited/mg protein in soybean (Pusa-20). All the crops also showed in vitro inhibitory activity against the gut protease of Helicoverpa armigera (HGP) with soybean (P-20) exhibiting maximum (95%) inhibition of HGP. Genes coding for trypsin inhibitor proteins are required to be exploited for production of insect-resistant transgenic plants.