Comparative Study of the Haemagglutination Capabilities of Lectin Extracted from Submerged Cultures of Wild and Mutant Strains of Schizophyllum commune

Abstract

Haemagglutination studies on lectin from both wild (SCW) and mutant strains (SCM1, SCM2, SCM3) of Schizophyllum commune using human blood were explored in this study after six days of submerged fermentation. Haemagglutination assay showed that the lectin from all the strains showed slight discrimination in their haemmaglutinating activity against human blood group with strong exhibition of agglutination with blood group O while SCM3 and SCW showed the highest and lowest haemaglutinating activity respectively with a titre score from 4 -256 HA. Absolute loss of haemagglutination activity was shown by all the four S. commune strains tested following exposure to CuSO4 and NH 4 SO 4 at 800 mM but optimized by KCl, MgCl 2 at 100 mM. Optimal pH for maximal haemagglutination activity was observed at 7.0 for SCW, 6.0 for SCM1 and 8.0 for SCM2 while SCM3 distinctly showed 5.5 and 8.5. Except for SCM3 the thermo stability of haemagglutinating activity was found to improve with the duration of UV irradiation. Inhibitory study in the presence of sugar showed that the partially purified protein from all the strains of S. commune in this study was mannose dependent lectin.

Lectins from Mycelia of Basidiomycetes

“…The hemagglutinating activity of the lectins from the wild (SCW) and mutant (SCM1, SCM2, and SCM3) strains of Schizophyllum commune broth was explored by using human blood [ 16 ]. The lectins’ activity toward human erythrocytes was found to be more selective to group O, as compared to other blood groups.…”

“…Most of these are intracellular [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ], while others are associated with the surface of mycelial hyphae [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Some lectins are extracellular and are secreted into the growth medium during the fungal life cycle [ 4 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. It has been established that lectin activity depends on a fungus’ species, strain, age, growth stage, and morphological structure, as well as on the cultivation method and growth medium used.…”