A SURVEY OF LECTINS IN SOUTHEAST ASIAN LEGUMINOSAE

Abstract

Screening tests of Southeast Asian legumes indicated that a high percentage (79 %) of the 125 taxa agglutinated red blood cells. Three taxa front a related family, theConnaraceae, possessed nonspecific lectins. Such activity in a family evolutionary linked to the Leguminosae suggests that further screening might yield lectins with novel properties, and also be of interest in understanding the evolutionary development of these interesting glycoproteins. The high percentage of species with lectin activity from a rather narrow ecological range (most are rainforest species) suggests that lectins may operate as intermediates in some of the many biological interactions that characterize the complex rainforest ecosystems.