豆科凝集素研究进展

豆科凝集素是植物凝集素中最丰富,也是研究最多的一类凝集素。在生理条件下豆科凝集素大多是以二聚体或四聚体的形式存在,这种低聚物的形式给予豆科凝集素较强的糖专一性和大分子结构的稳定性。豆科凝集素除作为植物储存物质的作用外,还具有识别糖蛋白、糖肽及生物膜中碳水化合物和作为植物与微生物的共生介质等生理功能。现对豆科凝集素的结构、功能及其在生物学、农业和医学方面的应用进行了综述。

Progress on the Study of Legume Lectins

Legume lectins, the largest lectin family in plants, were the most investigated ones in terms of their biological properties. Most legume lectins were assembled into dimers and tetramers under normal physiological conditions. The oligomer molecules provide a very high sugar specificity and macromolecular stability to the legume lectins. Besides the function of plant storage, legume lectins are identified by glycoprotein, glycopeptide and carbohydrate of biological membrane, and acted as symbiosis neurogen between plant and surrounding microorganisms.The research progresses of the legume lectins with respect to structure and function, as well as applications in biology, agriculture and medicine are reviewed.