Wl. Zhang et al., Isolation and characterization of a jacalin-related mannose-binding lectinfrom salt-stressed rice (Oryza sativa) plants, PLANTA, 210(6), 2000, pp. 970-978
A novel plant lectin was isolated from salt-stressed rice (Oryza sativa L.)
plants and partially characterized. The lectin occurs as a natural mixture
of two closely related isoforms consisting of two identical non-covalently
linked subunits of 15 kDa. Both isoforms are best inhibited by mannose and
exhibit potent mitogenic activity towards T-lymphocytes. Biochemical analy
ses and sequence comparisons further revealed that the rice lectins belong
to the subgroup of mannose-binding jacalin-related lectins. In addition, it
could be demonstrated that the lectins described here correspond to the pr
otein products of previously described salt-stress-induced genes. Our resul
ts not only identify the rice lectin as a stress protein but also highlight
the possible importance of protein-carbohydrate interactions in stress res
ponses in plants.