Multiple isoforms of phospholipase A 2 have been identified in Elapidae venoms. Three phospholipase A 2 isozymes were isolated from Naja naja sputatrix venom by gel filtration and high-performance liquid chromatographic procedures. The primary structure of the phospholipase A 2 enzyme(s) was determined by cDNA cloning and sequencing. The nucleotide sequence of these clones covered a complete reading frame of 484 base pairs, encoding a 27 amino acid signal peptide and 119 amino acid structural protein. The phospholipase A 2 gene could be expressed in Escherichia coli and the recombinant protein also exhibited an immunoreaction towards the antisera against the crude N. naja sputatrix venom.