Abstract
Amphibians respond to microbial infection through cellular and humoral defense mechanisms such as antimicrobial protein secretion. Most humoral defense proteins are synthetized in the skin. In this study we isolated two beta-galactoside-binding lectins with molecular weights of 50 and 56 KDa from the skin of Bufo arenarum. These lectins have significant hemagglutination activity against trypsinized rabbit erythrocytes, which was inhibited by galactose-containing saccharides. They are water-soluble and independent of the presence of calcium. The antimicrobial analysis for each lectin was performed. At mumolar concentration lectins show strong bacteriostatic activity against Gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli K12 4100 and wild strains of Escherichia coli and Proteus morganii) and Gram positive bacteria (Enterococcus faecalis). The antibacterial activity of these lectins may provide an effective defense against invading microbes in the amphibian Bufo arenarum.
Highlights
Organisms ward of microbial infection through well described cellular and humoral mechanisms
Among the few amphibian species examined such as Rana pipiens (Roberson and Armstrong, 1980), Rana catesbiana (Ozeki et al, 1991; Uchiyama et al, 1997), Xenopus laevis (Marschal et al, 1992) and Bufo arenarum (Fink et al, 1987; Ahmed et al, 1996), a number of different lectin activities have been identified in various adult tissues, including skin, muscle and gonad
Several lectins have been purified from amphibians belonging to various species
Summary
Organisms ward of microbial infection through well described cellular and humoral mechanisms. Skin secretions contain many biologically active compounds, such as biogenic amines (Erspamer, 1971), complex alkaloids (Erspamer, 1993), hormones noxious to predators (Kuchler et al, 1990), The latter are a group of various proteins characterized by their ability to bind carbohydrates with considerable specifity. They are found in organisms ranging from viruses to plants and animals. In the skin of Xenopus laevis, Marschal et al (1992) demonstrated the presence of a β-galactosidebinding lectin in the granular glands around keratinocytes and proposed that skin lectins might mediate mechanisms associated with host defense
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