Abstract
Lectins are proteins of a nonimmunoglobulin nature that are capable of specific recognition of and reversible binding to the carbohydrate moieties of complex carbohydrates, without altering the covalent structure of any of the recognized glycosyl ligands. They have a broad range of biological activities important for the functioning of the cell and the whole organism and, owing to the high specificity of reversible binding to carbohydrates, are valuable tools used widely in biology and medicine. Lectins can be produced by many living organisms, including basidiomycetes. Whereas lectins from the fruit bodies of basidiomycetes have been studied sufficiently well, mycelial lectins remain relatively unexplored. Here, we review and comparatively analyze what is currently known about lectins isolated from the vegetative mycelium of macrobasidiomycetes, including their localization, properties, and carbohydrate specificities. Particular attention is given to the physiological role of mycelial lectins in fungal growth and development.
Highlights
Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins of a nonimmunoglobulin nature that can recognize carbohydrates and reversibly bind to them without modifying their covalent structure [1]
The specific hemagglutinating activity was low in C. maxima culture liquids after fermentation of other lignocellulosic substrates, many of them favored the formation of large amounts of mycelial lectin
Fruit body lectins have been investigated in several hundred basidiomycete species, including edible, medicinal, and poisonous, and the accumulated data have been reviewed in a number of recent articles [18,19,20,21,22,23]
Summary
Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins of a nonimmunoglobulin nature that can recognize carbohydrates (glycosylic groups) and reversibly bind to them without modifying their covalent structure [1]. A variety of fungi, including members of the genera Armillaria, Agrocybe, Cerrena, Coprinus, Fomes, Funalia, Ganoderma, Grifola, Gymnopilus, Kuehneromyces, Lactarius, Lentinus, Laetipous, Panafolus, Pholiota, Pleurotus, Pseudotremella, Punctularia, Pycnoporus, Schizophyllum, Termitomyces, Trametes, Tricholoma, and Volvariella, can synthesize mycelial lectins. Most of these are intracellular [4,5,6,7,8,9,10], while others are associated with the surface of mycelial hyphae [11,12,13]. Biomedical aspects of lectin application are beyond our present scope and have been discussed at length by previous reviewers [17,18,19,20,21,22,23]
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