Lectin from the trunk of Sophora japonica

Summary Lectin was purified from the bark of Sophora japonica trunk by a simple method, affinity chromatography on acid-treated agarose; the yield was about 27% of the total sap proteins. Its molecular weight was 135,000±5,000 shown by using gel filtration, similar to that of the seed lectin of this species. When analyzed by using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) under acidic and basic conditions, the lectin showed multiple bands. These patterns were different from those obtained with the seed lectin of the same tree. The trunk lectin had a broader specificity for the blood types than the seed lectin. These observations demonstrate that the trunk and the seed lectins from the same tree are different molecular species.Authors are grateful to D. Med. Sci. Kazuhiko Ito and M. D. Hisahiro Yoshida, University Hospital of Kyoto Univ., for kindly providing us with human erythrocytes several times