A lectin with mycelia differentiation and antiphytovirus activities from the edible mushroom Agrocybe aegerita.

A lectin named AAL has been purified from the fruiting bodies of the edible mushroom Agrocybe aegerita. AAL consisted of two identical subunits of 15.8 kDa, its pI was about 3.8 determined by isoelectric focusing, and no carbohydrate was discerned. Being treated by pyrogultamate aminopeptidase, the blocked N-terminus of AAL was sequenced as QGVNIYNI. AAL agglutinated human and animal erythrocytes regardless of blood type or animal species. Its hemagglutinating activity was unaffected by acid or alkali treatment and demetalization or addition of divalent metals Mg(2+), Ca(2+) and Zn(2+). AAL was toxic to mice: its LD50 was 15.85 mg per kilogram body weight by intraperitoneal injection. In this study, two novel activities of AAL were proved. It showed inhibition activity to infection of tobacco mosaic virus on Nicotiana glutinosa. The result of IEF suggested that AAL attached to TMV particles. Mycelia differentiation promotion was the other interesting activity. AAL promoted the differentiation of fruit body primordia from the mycelia of Agrocybe aegerita and Auricularia polytricha. AAL antiserum was prepared and immunologically cross-reactived with several proteins from five other kinds of mushrooms. These results suggested that AAL probably was a representative of a large protein family, which plays important physiological roles in mushroom.