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Plant Lectins
Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that are highly specific for sugar groups that are part of other molecules, so cause agglutination of particular cells or precipitation of glycoconjugates and polysaccharides. Lectins have a role in recognition at the cellular and molecular level and play numerous roles in biological recognition phenomena involving cells, carbohydrates, and proteins. Lectins also mediate attachment and binding of bacteria, viruses, and fungi to their intended targets. Lectins are found in many foods. Some foods, such as beans and grains, need to be cooked, fermented or sprouted to reduce lectin content. Some lectins are beneficial, such as CLEC11A, which promotes bone growth, while others may be powerful toxins such as ricin. Lectins may be disabled by specific mono- and oligosaccharides, which bind to ingested lectins from grains, legumes, nightshade plants, and dairy; binding can prevent their attachment to the carbohydrates within the cell membran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hemagglutinin Lateral
The term hemagglutinin (alternatively spelt ''haemagglutinin'', from the Greek , 'blood' + Latin , 'glue') refers to any protein that can cause red blood cells (erythrocytes) to clump together ("Agglutination (biology), agglutinate") ''in vitro''. They do this by binding to the sugar residues on a red blood cell; when a single hemagglutinin molecule binds sugars from multiple red blood cells, it "glues" these cells together. As a result, they are carbohydrate-binding proteins (lectins). The ability to bind red blood cell sugars have independently appeared several times, and as a result hemaglutinins do not all bind using the same mechanism. The ability to bind red blood sugars is also not necessarily related to the ''in vivo'' function of the protein. The term ''hemagglutinin'' is most commonly applied to plant and viral lectins. Natural proteins that clump together red blood cells were known since the turn of the 19th century. Virologist George Hirst (virologist), George K. Hirst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mannose
Mannose is a sugar with the formula , which sometimes is abbreviated Man. It is one of the monomers of the aldohexose series of carbohydrates. It is a C-2 epimer of glucose. Mannose is important in human metabolism, especially in the glycosylation of certain proteins. Several congenital disorders of glycosylation are associated with mutations in enzymes involved in mannose metabolism. Mannose is not an essential nutrient; it can be produced in the human body from glucose, or converted into glucose. Mannose provides 2–5 kcal/g. It is partially excreted in the urine. Etymology The root of both "mannose" and " mannitol" is manna, which the Bible describes as the food supplied to the Israelites during their journey in the region of Sinai. Several trees and shrubs can produce a substance called manna, such as the "manna tree" (''Fraxinus ornus'') from whose secretions mannitol was originally isolated. Structure Mannose commonly exists as two different-sized rings, the py ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vicia Villosa
''Vicia'' is a genus of over 240 species of flowering plants that are part of the legume family (Fabaceae), and which are commonly known as vetches. Member species are native to Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Africa. Some other genera of their subfamily Faboideae also have names containing "vetch", for example the vetchlings ('' Lathyrus'') or the milk-vetches ('' Astragalus''). The lentils are included in genus ''Vicia'', and were formerly classified in genus ''Lens''. The broad bean (''Vicia faba'') is sometimes separated in a monotypic genus ''Faba''; although not often used today, it is of historical importance in plant taxonomy as the namesake of the order Fabales, the Fabaceae and the Faboideae. The tribe Vicieae in which the vetches are placed is named after the genus' current name. The true peas ('' Pisum'') are among the closest living relatives of vetches. Use by humans Bitter vetch ('' V. ervilia'') was one of the first domesticated crops. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artocarpus Integrifolius
''Artocarpus integer'', commonly known as chempedak or cempedak, is a species of tree in the family Moraceae, in the same genus as breadfruit and jackfruit. It is native to Southeast Asia. Cempedak is an important crop in Malaysia and is also popularly cultivated in southern Thailand and parts of Indonesia, and has the potential to be utilized in other areas. It is currently limited in range to Southeast Asia, with some trees in Australia and Hawaii. Description Cempedak trees are large, evergreen trees. They can grow to a height of 20 m, although most reach only a dozen meters. The trees are monoecious, with male and female flowers growing on the same tree. There are many varieties, although few are named. The vigorously growing tree can bear heavy crops of fruit once or twice a year. Fruit The syncarp may be cylindrical to spherical in shape, and ranges from 10 to 15 cm across and 20 to 35 cm in length.. 1997. ''Artocarpus integer'' (Thunb.) Merr. dalam Verheij, E.W. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacalin
Jacalin is a plant-based lectin, but not a legume lectin, found in jackfruit. It has been studied for capturing O-glycoproteins such as mucins and IgA1, for potential applications in human immunology. Jacalin belongs to a family of galactose-binding lectins containing the Jacalin-like lectin domain and it has a tetrameric two-chain structure with a weight of 66 kDa Jacalin is preferably used in applications to isolate IgA from human serum, isolating human plasma glycoproteins and for applications in histochemistry. The lectin is blood group non-specific after neuraminidase treatment and agglutinates human erythrocytes at a concentration of ≥ 7,8 μg/mL. A post-translational proteolytic modification of Jacalin gives the lectin a novel carbohydrate-binding site involving the N-terminus of the a-chain. The relative affinities of the lectin for galactose derivatives, as well as the structural basis of its T-antigen specificity, are explained by its protein structure See also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arachis Hypogaea
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large commercial producers, both as a grain legume and as an oil crop. Atypically among legumes, peanut pods develop underground; this led botanist Carl Linnaeus to name peanuts ''hypogaea'', which means "under the earth". The peanut belongs to the botanical family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), commonly known as the legume, bean, or pea family. Like most other legumes, peanuts harbor symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria in root nodules, which improve soil fertility, making them valuable in crop rotations. Despite not meeting the botanical definition of a nut as "a fruit whose ovary wall becomes hard at maturity," peanuts are usually categorized as nuts for culinary purposes and in common English. Some people are allergic to peanuts, a potent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peanut Agglutinin
Peanut agglutinin (PNA) is plant lectin protein derived from the fruits of '' Arachis hypogaea''. Peanut agglutinin may also be referred to as ''Arachis hypogaea'' lectin. Lectins recognise and bind particular sugar sequences in carbohydrates; peanut agglutinin binds the carbohydrate sequence Gal-β(1-3)- GalNAc. The name "peanut agglutinin" originates from its ability to stick together ( agglutinate) cells, such as neuraminidase-treated erythrocytes, which have glycoproteins or glycolipids on their surface which include the Gal-β(1-3)-GalNAc carbohydrate sequence. Structure The protein is 273 amino acids in length with the first 23 residues acting as a signal peptide which is subsequently cleaved. It has a Uniprot accession oP02872 There are over 20 structures of this protein in the PDB which reveal and all beta-sheet protein with a tetrameric quaternary structure. It is a member of the Lectin_legB PFAM family.Available Structures of peanut agglutinin Uses in cell biology an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ricinus Communis
''Ricinus communis'', the castor bean or castor oil plant, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole species in the monotypic genus, ''Ricinus'', and subtribe, Ricininae. The evolution of castor and its relation to other species are currently being studied using modern genetic tools. It reproduces with a mixed pollination system which favors selfing by geitonogamy but at the same time can be an out-crosser by anemophily (wind pollination) or entomophily (insect pollination). Its seed is the castor bean, which despite the term is not a bean (as it is not the seed of a member of the family Fabaceae). Castor is indigenous to the southeastern Mediterranean Basin, East Africa, and India, but is widespread throughout tropical regions (and widely grown elsewhere as an ornamental plant). Castor seed is the source of castor oil, which has a wide variety of uses. The seeds contain between 40% and 60% oil that is rich in triglycerides ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ricin
Ricin ( ) is a lectin (a carbohydrate-binding protein) and a highly potent toxin produced in the seeds of the castor oil plant, ''Ricinus communis''. The median lethal dose (LD50) of ricin for mice is around 22 micrograms per kilogram of body weight via intraperitoneal injection. Oral exposure to ricin is far less toxic. An estimated lethal oral dose in humans is approximately one milligram per kilogram of body weight. Ricin is a toxalbumin and was first described by Peter Hermann Stillmark, the founder of lectinology. Ricin is chemically similar to Robin (toxin), robin. Biochemistry Ricin is classified as a type 2 ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP). Whereas type 1 RIPs are composed of a single protein chain that possesses catalytic activity, type 2 RIPs, also known as holotoxins, are composed of two different protein chains that form a heterodimeric complex. Type 2 RIPs consist of an A chain that is functionally equivalent to a type 1 RIP, covalently connected by a single ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galactose
Galactose (, ''wikt:galacto-, galacto-'' + ''wikt:-ose#Suffix 2, -ose'', ), sometimes abbreviated Gal, is a monosaccharide sugar that is about as sweetness, sweet as glucose, and about 65% as sweet as sucrose. It is an aldohexose and a C-4 epimer of glucose. A galactose molecule linked with a glucose molecule forms a lactose molecule. Galactan is a polymeric form of galactose found in hemicellulose, and forming the core of the galactans, a class of natural polymeric carbohydrates. D-Galactose is also known as brain sugar since it is a component of glycoproteins (oligosaccharide-protein compounds) found in Nerve tissue, nerve tissue. Etymology The word ''galactose'' was coined by Charles Weissman in the mid-19th century and is derived from Greek language, Greek , , and the generic chemical suffix for sugars ''-ose''. The etymology is comparable to that of the word ''lactose'' in that both contain roots meaning "milk sugar". Lactose is a disaccharide of galactose plus glucose. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galanthus Nivalis
''Galanthus nivalis'', the snowdrop or common snowdrop, is the best-known and most widespread of the 20 species in its genus, ''Galanthus''. Snowdrops are among the first bulbs to bloom in spring and can form impressive carpets of white in areas where they are native or have been naturalised. They should not be confused with the snowflakes, in the genera ''Leucojum'' and ''Acis (plant), Acis''. Naming The generic name ''Galanthus'', from the Greek ''gala'' (milk) and ''anthos'' (flower), was given to the genus by Carl Linnaeus in 1735. He described ''Galanthus nivalis'' in his ' published in 1753. The epithet means "of the snow", referring either to the snow-like flower or the plant's early flowering. The common name snowdrop first appeared in the 1633 edition of John Gerard's ''Great Herbal'' (in the first edition (1597) he described it as the "Timely flowring Bulbus violet"). The derivation of the name is uncertain, although it may have come from the German word ''Schneetropf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
