title: Changes in the specificity of blood groups induced by enzymes from soil fungi.
abstract: Three strains of Cunninghamella elegance (C. elegance), Penicillium simplicissimum (P. simpl.), and Aspergillus niger (A. niger) were isolated from soil that produced the enzymes acting on blood groups A and B red cells. Culture filtrates from these fungi contained alpha-N-acetyl-D-galactosaminidase as an A-decomposing enzyme, which resulted in an almost complete loss of A specificity and an enhancement of blood group H activity as measured by elution tests using monoclonal antibodies. They also contained an alpha-D-galactosidase and an alpha-L-fucosidase, which partially destroyed the blood group B specific activity, but did not influence the blood group H specific activity.
authors.affiliation: Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kubo
mesh_terms: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System / Q000235:genetics*; D001788:Blood Grouping and Crossmatching / Q000379:methods*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000382:microbiology; D005658:Fungi / Q000201:enzymology*; D006596:Hexosaminidases / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D005644:alpha-L-Fucosidase / Q000502:physiology; D048809:alpha-N-Acetylgalactosaminidase
chemical_list: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System; D006596:Hexosaminidases; C482722:NAGA protein, human; D048809:alpha-N-Acetylgalactosaminidase; D005644:alpha-L-Fucosidase