title: Screening for lectins from basidiomycetes and isolation of Punctularia atropurpurascens lectin.
abstract: Aqueous extracts of basidiomycete fungi were screened for the presence of lectins by hemagglutination (HA) assays with mouse, rabbit, and sheep red blood cells. From mycelia and/or fruiting bodies, 23 extracts were prepared; 15 extracts exhibited HA activity towards mouse erythrocytes, with specific activities ranging from 12 to 440 lectin units (LU) mg(-1) protein. In HA inhibition assays, 43 carbohydrates including mono-, di-, tri-, tetrasaccharides, glycoproteins, and polysaccharides were tested as haptens, to determine the saccharide-binding specificities of the lectins. A novel lectin with specificity towards N-acetyl-glucosamine was purified from mycelia of Punctularia atropurpurascens using affinity chromatography on chitosan-Sepharose. The lectin has a subunit molecular mass of 67 kDa determined by SDS-PAGE and a pI of 5.0.
authors: Cátedra de Microbiología, Departamento de Biociencias, Facultad de Química, UdelaR, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors: Silvana
authors: S
authors: Alborés
authors: Paola
authors: P
authors: Mora
authors: María Pía
authors: MP
authors: Cerdeiras
authors: Laura Franco
authors: LF
authors: Fraguas
mesh_terms: D000117:Acetylglucosamine / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D001487:Basidiomycota / Q000737:chemistry*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D048690:Fruiting Bodies, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry; D006384:Hemagglutination / Q000187:drug effects*; D037102:Lectins / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D025282:Mycelium / Q000737:chemistry; D011817:Rabbits; D012756:Sheep
chemical_list: D037102:Lectins; D000117:Acetylglucosamine
keywords: Affinity chromatography; Basidiomycetes; Glycoproteins; Lectins