| Abstract: | Bulbs from three species of the plant family Amaryllidaceae ( Narcissus pseudonurcissus L., Leucojum aestivum L. and Leucojum vernum L.) were found to contain mannose-specific lectins. These lectins were serologically identical to a previously reported Amaryllidaceae lectin from Galanthus nivalis L. bulbs, but had a different molecular structure. The lectins described in this paper are dimeric proteins composed of subunits of 13 kDa, which are not held together by disulphide bridges. In hapten-inhibition assays Amaryllidaceae lectins exhibited exclusive specificity towards mannose. Furthermore, they all had a high specific agglutination activity with trypsin-treated rabbit erythrocytes, whereas human red blood cells were not agglutinated. |
