Isolation and characterization of bacterial agglutinating lectin from Lima Bean (Phaseolus lunatus L.)

Results showed that the isolated lima bean lectin (LBL) exhibited a total protein composition of 0.261 mg/mL and was found to be a glycoprotein containing 0.053 µg of carbohydrates per milligram of protein. The hapten inhibition assay presented that purified LBL is precise to the following sugars such as glucose, N-acetyl-d-glucosamine, d-galactose, xylose, fructose, sucrose, d-maltose, mannose, mannitol, raffinose, arabinose, and lactose. It is also demonstrated that LBL established an affinity toward bacteria causing disease such as Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. LBL is shown to be a strong agglutinating action against E. coli, it can be used as a ligand for sensing foodborne pathogens and is important in developing lectin-based biosensors.