Comparative study of the post-translational processing of the mannose-binding lectins in the bulbs of garlic (Allium sativum L.) and ramsons (Allium ursinum L.).

The biosynthesis and processing of the homodimeric and heterodimeric lectins from the bulbs of garlic (Allium sativum) and ramsons (wild garlic; Allium ursinum) were studied using pulse and pulse-chase labelling experiments on developing bulbs. By combining the results of the in vivo biosynthesis studies and the cDNA cloning of the respective lectins, the sequence of events leading from the primary translation products into the mature lectin polypeptides could be reconstructed. From this it is demonstrated that garlic and ramsons use different schemes of post-translational modifications in order to synthesize apparently similar lectins from totally different precursors. Both the homomeric garlic lectin (ASAII) and its homologue in ramsons (AUAII) are synthesized on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) as nonglycosylated 13.5 kDa precursors, which, after their transport out of the ER are converted into the mature 12.0 kDa lectin polypeptides by the cleavage of a C-terminal peptide. The heterodimeric garlic lectin ASAI is synthesized on the ER as a single glycosylated precursor of 38 kDa, which after its transport out of the ER undergoes a complex processing which gives rise to two mature lectin subunits of 11.5 and 12.5 kDa. In contrast, both subunits of the heterodimeric ramsons lectin AUAI are synthesized separately on the ER as glycosylated precursors, which after their transport out of the ER are deglycosylated and further processed into the mature lectin polypeptides by the cleavage of a C-terminal peptide.