Isolation and Characterization of Lectins from Rhizoctonia crocorum and Athelia rolfsii

Two new lectins were isolated from mycelium of Rhizoctonia crocorum and Athelia rolfsii by affinity chromatography on mucin-Sepharose. The Rhizoctonia crocorum lectin (RCL) was a tetramer of 11 kDa subunits whereas the Athelia rolfsii lectin (ARL) was a dimer of two 17 kDa subunits. Both lectins were rich in asparagine/aspartic acid, glutamine/glutamic acid, glycine, lysine and serine. In contrast to the previously described Rhizoctonia solani agglutinin (RSA), which exhibits specificity towards N-acetylgalactosamine, RCL and ARL had a complex specificity. Despite obvious differences between the three lectins, they are serologically related to each other.