S. Alvarez-hernandez et al., Isolation and partial characterization of giraffine, a lectin from the Mexican endemic alga Codium giraffa Silva, BOTAN MARIN, 42(6), 1999, pp. 573-580
A lectin from the alga Codium giraffa, reported as an endemic species of Me
xico, was purified by a combination of ammonium sulfate fractionation, affi
nity and anion exchange chromatographies. Giraffine, as we called this lect
in, shares some characteristics with other lectins isolated from the same g
enus. It is a monomeric protein with a relative molecular weight of 17,800,
srs shown by native and SDS-PAGE and confirmed by mass spectrometry; its i
soelectric point was 6.4 and it did not show multiple molecular forms. The
agglutinating activity of this lectin was inhibited with low concentrations
of N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylgalactosamine and was independent of di
valent cations.