SOLUBLE PEROXIDASE ACTIVITY IN PURPLE, GREEN AND WHITE EGGPLANTS

Soluble peroxidase activity extracted from purple, green and white eggplants (Solanum melongena L.) was measured spectrophotometrically. Activity was significantly higher in the white variety than in the other two. The isozyme patterns were compared by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The purple and green had 3 major isozyme bands between 0.8 and 0.9 Rf while the white contained 2. Only the white and purple cultivars contained bands between 0.06 and 0.3 and 0.6 and 0.7 Rf.     

Characterization of a lectin-like protein isolated from Lachesis muta snake venom

A lectin-like protein was isolated from L. muta venom by gel filtration on BIO Gel P-100 followed by column Chromatography on DEAE-sephades A-50. The protein eluted at 0.4 M Nacl in 0.01 Tris pH 7.3 and exhibited agglutinin activity toward 0+ human erythrocytes. The protein is a dimer with Mr 28 kDa. Amino acid analysis revealed high content of tryptophan and acid recidues and low content of cysteine and methionine residues. No neutral carbohydrates and sialic acid were detected. Circular dichroic spectrum shows 78% of B structure and 1% of alpha structure. In vitro experiments with erythrocytes from rat, rabbit and dog revealed strong agglutination while red blood cells from mice, sheep and goat were not agglutinated. In vivo experiments using anesthetized rats, a sharp and prolonged fall in the blood pressure was observed at protein dose of 1.5 mg/kg. Double dose of protein caused the death of the animal.