title: Isolation, purification and some properties of a lectin from the winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus).
abstract: We have isolated by affinity chromatography a lectin from the seeds of the winged bean (Psophocrapus tetragonolobus) which agglutinated human (group A, B and O), sheep and rabbit, but not mouse erythrocytes. A molecular weight of 41,000 was obtained from gel filtration, and on sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis a single polypeptide chain of molecular weight 35,000 was seen both before and after reduction. Isoelectric focussing of the lectin on polyacrylamide gel gave a single band with a calculated isoelectric point of 4.0. The lectin was found to be rich in acidic amino acids; cysteine was not detected. Carbohydrate analysis revealed no covalently bound sugars.
authors.affiliation: Regional Cancer Centre, Medical College Campus, 695 011, Trivandrum, India.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vijayakumar
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Forrester