Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 18.2
General scheme for the purifi cation of plant lectins.
material, the mildest way for desorption of a lectin from an affi nity column is to
use the haptenic carbohydrate. If this is too expensive, alternatives will have to be
devised, for example by testing borate to elute the lectin, prior to shifting the pH
value of the elution buffer or having to resort to chaotropic reagents. If applied as
a shallow gradient of increasing concentration, it is even possible to resolve closely
related isolectins by borate, as demonstrated for the isolectins of French beans
(please see Info Box 1) [8]. Following its purifi cation, the new plant lectin may
