Datura stramonium Agglutinin

Abstract

The distribution of Datura stramonium agglutinin over different tissues of D. stramonium L. seeds was visualized by immunocytochemical techniques and quantified by agglutination assays. The lectin occurs predominantly in the outer seed tissues (seed coat and seed epidermis), where it is associated, at least in part, with the cell wails. Developing D. stramonium seeds secrete newly synthesized lectin polypeptides into the incubation medium, which confirms the extraceOular location of the lectin. Imbibition of mature decoated seeds results in a rapid and highly specific release of lectin. Indeed, imbibition solutions contain almost exclusively the lectin together with a few other carbohydrate-binding proteins; this is indicative of the predominance of these proteins in the seed surface layer. The presence of important amounts of lectin in the outer tissues of the seed is consistent with a possible role in the mediation of cell-cell interactions.

Antinutritive effects of wheat-germ agglutinin and other N-acetylglucosamine-specific lectins

“…WGA was eluted from the column with 0.1 M-GlcNAc (Peumans et al 1982). DSA was prepared by chromatography on chitin or fetuin-agarose and elution with acetic acid (Broekaert et al 1988). UDA was also prepared by affinity chromatography on chitin (Peumans et al 1984).…”

Functional Characterization of Chemosensory Proteins in the Scarab Beetle, Holotrichia oblita Faldermann (Coleoptera: Scarabaeida)

“…Insects develop an elaborate, sensitive, and specific olfactory system to perceive chemical signals in the environment. This system confers the capacity to communicate with mates, locate foods, oviposit, and avoid natural enemies [3] , [6] , [7] . The insect olfactory system is primarily composed of an antennae lobe in the brain and morphologically distinct sensilla [8] .…”

Plant Lectins – More than Just Tools for Glycoscientists: Occurrence, Structure, and Possible Functions of Plant Lectins

“…Though the location in protein bodies is typical for the most prominent lectins there may also be exceptions. Cell wall-associated lectins have been described for Leguminosae [Kauss and Glaser, 1974;Kauss and Bowles, 1976;Haass et al, 1981], the thornapple Datura stramonium [Broekaert et al, 1988], the jackfruit Artocarpus integrifolia [Majumder and Chatterjee, 1996] and wheat Triticum vulgare [Komarova et al, 1993[Komarova et al, , 1994. Some plants produce large amounts of exudates on wounding.…”