Antimicrobial activity and carbohydrate specificity of new mycelial lectins from Fusarium sp.

Abstract

In the present study, ten Fusarium sp. were screened for the presence of lectins by hemagglutination assay using human and animal erythrocytes. Amongst them nine species, namely F. acuminatum, F. chlamydosporium, F. coeruleum, F. compactum, F. concolor, F. crookwellense, F. culmorum, F. decemcellulare and F. dimerum were found to possess lectin activity. Neuraminidase treatment to rabbit erythrocytes considerably augmented hemagglutination titre, but no such effect was observed with protease-treated erythrocytes. Lectins were tested for inhibition of hemagglutination activity against a panel of carbohydrates. Majority of the lectins were inhibited by L-fucose, D-galactose, bovine submaxillary mucin and dextran. γ-Globulin was inhibitory against lectins from F. acuminatum, F. chlamydosporium, F. compactum and F. culmorum at a concentration of >250 µg/mL, whereas bovine submaxillary mucin and porcine stomach mucin were observed to be strongest inhibitors of lectin from F. compactum with minimum inhibitory concentration of 7.18 µg/mL and 15.6 µg/mL, respectively. Most of the lectins displayed antimicrobial activity against Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Aspergillus niger. Lectins from F. chlamydosporium, F. culmorum and F. crookwellense have also exhibited antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans. These findings illustrate the significance of Fusarium sp. lectins in clinical applications.

Lectin activity in mycelial extracts of Fusarium species

“…The present study reports lectin activity from seven Fusarium species, namely, F. fujikuroi, F. beomiformii, F. begoniae, F. nisikadoi, F. anthophilum, F. incarnatum , and F. tabacinum , the presence of lectins in these species has not been explored previously. Our results and those of previous investigations conducted by Singh and Thakur 26 demonstrate a wide presence of mycelial lectins in Fusarium species. In the present study, lectins from all the seven species were found to agglutinate only rabbit erythrocytes, and no agglutination with human, goat, sheep, and pig erythrocytes was observed.…”

“…Recently, Singh and Thakur 26 reported lectin activity in mycelial extracts of eight Fusarium species, namely F. acuminatum , F. chlamydosporium , F. compactum , F. crookwellense , F. culmorum , F. dimerum , F. decemcellulare , and F. coeruleum. The present study attempted to explore lectin activity in ten species of Fusarium , which have been not investigated earlier.…”

Cyanobacterial lectins characteristics and their role as antiviral agents

“…Majority of microfungal lectins are also intracellular and usually dimeric with an isoelectric point in the range of 7.5-9.3 [10]. An array of microfungal lectins such as Aspergillus [21][22][23]32], Penicillium [15,33] and Fusarium [16] exhibit broad carbohydrate specificity, however they are highly specific towards mucins specifically porcine submaxillary mucin (PSM). Around 26 varied fungal lectins have been structurally characterized representing 8.5% of all lectin structures in lectin 3D database [34].…”

“…Mushroom lectins have antitumor, antiviral, mitogenic and immune stimulating potential [14]. A panorma of microfungal lectins have been attributed with various antimicrobial [15,16], immunomodulatory [17][18][19] and mitogenic [20][21][22][23] activities. Thus, due to their potential use and various applications, lectins are promising molecules in the field of biotechnology.…”

Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Penicillium sp. lectins

“…The antimicrobial activities of lectins from Fusarium sp. [36], Aspergillus sp. [37,38] and Penicillium sp.…”