Abstract
A lectin was purified to homogeneity from the fruitbodies of Flammulina velutipes by conventional purification procedures. The purified lectin was demonstrated to be a dimeric protein consisting of two identical subunits with an apparent molecular mass of 11 kDa. The lectin was an acidic protein with a pi value of 5.4, and devoid of cysteine, methionine, and histidine as amino acid constituents. Its hemagglutinating activity was totally unaffected by mono- and oligosaccharides and glycosides, but inhibited by some desialylated glycoproteins. Immunological assays revealed that no protein cross-reacting with rabbit anti-F. velutipes lectin antibody was apparently present in vegetatively growing mycelia but was distributed throughout the fruitbody at different concentrations.
