LECTINS (HEMAGGLUTININS) IN THE GUT OF THE IMPORTANT DISEASE VECTORS

The review is devoted to the gut lectins/hemagglutinins oi the followi ng representatives of important disease vectors. ticks, kissing-bugs, mosquitoes, sandflies and tsetse flies. The paper surveys the recent k nowledge on these carbohydrate binding factors with respect to their s tructural and functional properties, and their significance for pathog en/parasite transmission by the blood-sucking arthropods. Recent resul ts suggest that in most vectors the gut lectin activities ore blood-me al enhanced, might participate in blood-meal processing and digestion and could serve as antibacterial and antiparasitic agents.