Specific binding of silkworm Bombyx mori 30-kDa lipoproteins to carbohydrates containing glucose.
Insect lectins are important as part of nonspecific self-defense, but their antifungal mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Fungi contain glucans on the cell surface and insect glucan-binding proteins are considered to be essential for antifungal mechanisms. We purified glucose-binding proteins from hemolymph of pupae of the silkworm Bombyx mori, and the amino acid sequence analysis showed that their two proteins are 30-kDa lipoproteins, major components of B. mori hemolymph. These lipoproteins specifically bound to glucose and glucans, suggesting that they are involved in insect self-defense systems.
Ujita
Minoru
M
Laboratory of Biological Chemistry, Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Meijo University, Tempaku-ku, Nagoya 468-8502, Japan. ujita@ccmfs.meijo-u.ac.jp
Kimura
Akihiro
A
Nishino
Daisuke
D
Yokoyama
Eiji
E
Banno
Yutaka
Y
Fujii
Hiroshi
H
Hara
Akira
A
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D012831:Bombyx / Q000378:metabolism*; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D005936:Glucans / Q000737:chemistry; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006458:Hemolymph / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011485:Protein Binding; D011679:Pupa
D005936:Glucans; D008074:Lipoproteins; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins; D005947:Glucose