Аннотация:Proteinase inhibitors in buckwheat seeds (BWI) consist of two main groups - endogenous involved in the regulation of storage protein metabolism and а group of exogenous proteinase inhibitors capable of suppressing the growth and development of pathogenic microorganisms. Exogenous protease inhibitors are presented by two subgroups, i.e. anionic and cationic inhib¬itors. As consisted with their amino acid sequences all anionic inhibitors, as well as two of the cationic inhibitors (BWI-3c and BWI-4c) were shown to belong to the potato proteinase inhibitor 1 family. The 3D structure of the proteinase inhibitor BWI-2c determined by NMR spectroscopy and revealing two antiparallel α-helices stapled by disulfide bonds showed that BWI-2c represents a new family of proteinase inhibitors termed α-hairpinins with an unusual α-helical hairpin fold. Possibility of obtaining transgenic tobacco and potato plants resistant to bacterial infections and insects by introduction of the gene of serine proteinase inhibitor BWI-1a (ISP) from buckwheat seeds has been demonstrated. Stable retention and expression of the heterologous protective ISP gene has been demonstrated on a collection of individual transgenic tobacco lines maintained in aseptic culture for more than 10 years.