title: S-type lectins occur also in invertebrates: high conservation of the carbohydrate recognition domain in the lectin genes from the marine sponge Geodia cydonium.
abstract: The marine sponge Geodia cydonium contains several lectins. The main component, called lectin-1, is composed of three to four identical subunits. The subunits of the lectins were cloned from a cDNA library; two clones were obtained. From the deduced aa sequence of one clone, LECT-1, a mol. wt of 15,313 Da is calculated; this value is in good agreement with mass spectrometric analysis of 15,453 +/- 25 Da. The sequence of another clone, LECT-2, was analysed and the aa sequence was deduced (15,433 Da). The two subunits have a framework sequence of 38 conserved aa which are characteristic for the carbohydrate-binding site of vertebrate S-type lectins. Clustering of lectin sequences of various species following their pairwise comparison establishes a dendrogram, which reveals that the sponge lectin could be considered as the ancestor for vertebrate S-type lectins.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physiologische Chemie, Universität, Mainz, FRG.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pfeifer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haasemann
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gamulin
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bretting
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fahrenholz
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Müller
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D037161:Galectins; D037102:Lectins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011161:Porifera / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D037161:Galectins; D037102:Lectins; C081157:lectin-1, Geodia cydonium; D004247:DNA