Cloning and characterization of the genes encoding toxic lectins
in mistletoe (
Viscum album
L)
Alma G. Kourmanova
1,2
, Olga J. Soudarkina
1
, Sjur Olsnes
3
and Jurij V. Kozlov
1,2
1
Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences and
2
The University of Oslo Centre for Medical Studies
in Moscow, Russia;
3
Institute for Cancer Research, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Montebello, Oslo, Norway
Leaves of mistletoe (Viscum album L) contain three toxic
lectins (type 2 ribosome-inactivating proteins) MLI, MLII,
and MLIII, differing in molecular mass and carbohydrate
specificity. Clones, containing sequences of three gene vari-
ants designated ml1p, ml2p,andml3p, were obtained using
PCR amplification from cDNA and from mistletoe genomic
DNA. The quantitative ratio of the ml1p, ml2p,andml3p
genes in genomic DNA was found to be 1.5 : 1 : 4,
respectively, whereas the ratio of their mRNA was
50 : 10 : 1. The quantitative prevalence of the ml1p tran-
script correlates well with the observation that MLI is
quantitatively dominant over MLII and MLIII in the

to their molecular structure [2]. The type 1 RIPs are single
chain proteins (with few exceptions) resembling the toxin
A-chain in structure and function. They are essentially
nontoxic and they are abundantly present in a wide variety
of plants. The toxic type 2 RIPs are found only in few plants
and are heterodimers consisting of structurally and func-
tionally different A- and B-chains [2]. Type 3 was recently
introduced for RIPs with quite different structures: a single-
chain barley RIP, called JIP60, has an N-terminal domain
resembling type 1 RIPs and C-terminal domain with
unknown function [3].
The A-chain is a highly specific N-glycosidase that
irreversibly inactivates eukaryotic ribosomes [4]. The effi-
ciency of the A-chain is so high that penetration into the
cytosol of a single A-chain molecule is sufficient to induce
cell death [4].
The other polypeptide, the B-chain, is a lectin that is
responsible for binding to eukaryotic cell surface receptors
which induce endocytosis of the toxin and transfer of the
enzymatic subunit to the endoplasmic reticulum, where
penetration into the cytosol occurs [6,7].
The type 2 RIPs are synthesized as preprotoxins. The
mature form emerges after removal of first, a leader
sequence and then a linker that joins the A- and B- chains.
Another typical feature is the intronless gene structure [2].
The total sequence homology of these proteins, which
originate from taxonomically remote plant species, is not
high but all proteins have a similar fold [2,8,9].
Extract of mistletoe leaves has been used in folk medicine
since times immemorial. The toxic lectins MLI, MLII, and

The present work describes the full-size encoding
sequences of the mistletoe toxic lectin genes. Analysis of
the primary structure of the genes and the encoded proteins
enabled us to isolate three gene variants in good agreement
with the existence of three toxic lectins in mistletoe leaves.
We have shown that gene ml1p, encoding MLI, is
transcribed more efficiently than the other two genes, and
that this is probably the reason for the quantitative
prevalence of MLI in extract of mistletoe leaves [18]. The
A-chains encoded by the three variants of the genes were
expressed in Escherichia coli and their biological activity was
shown. Interaction of the recombinant A-chains with
monoclonal antibodies having differential affinity to MLI,
MLII and MLIII A-chains suggests that the other two
genes ml2p and ml3p correspond to MLII and MLIII,
respectively.
Materials and methods
Plant material
Young leaves of mistletoe (Viscum album L) were harvested
at the end of May from plants growing on a poplar tree
(Populus alba L) in the Poltavskaya region of South
Ukraine. The leaves were frozen in liquid nitrogen and
stored at )50 °C until use.
Plant RNA isolation and cDNA synthesis
Total RNA was prepared from young mistletoe leaves using
the guanidine hydrochloride extraction method [19]. Poly
(A)
+
-RNA was prepared from the total RNA using
paramagnetic oligo(dT) beads (Promega). A Universal

cloned and the 1066 bp sequence encoding 125 amino acids
of the A-chain, the 19 amino acids linker, and 216 amino
acidsoftheB-chainoftheml gene was obtained. The
sequence was different from that obtained using degenerate
primers. The obtained sequence data were used to design
primers for RACE.
5¢ and 3¢ rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE)
RACE was performed according to Frohman et al.[23].
The sequences of the primers used for 5¢ RACE were:
5¢-GCTCCACCAACACAAATC-3¢ for reverse transcrip-
tion of poly(A)
+
-RNA with AMV-Reverse Transcriptase
(USB, Cleveland, OH, USA) and 5¢-GGATCGTAGACT
GACGCAAGAGTGG-3¢ with the Abridged Anchor Pri-
mer (AAP) (Gibco BRL) for the following amplification.
The sequences of the primers used for 3¢ RACE were:
5¢-TCTAGA(T)
20
-3¢ for the first cDNA strand priming,
and 5¢-GCCCCTCGCGAGGTAACC-3¢ with 5¢-TCTA
GA(T)
20
-3¢ or 5¢-CCGTAATCAATATTGTTAGCTGC
AG-3¢ with 5¢-TCTAGA(T)
20
-3¢ for the following amplifi-
cation. PCR reactions were set up in 20 lL using 5–15 ng
cDNA as template, 0.25 l
M

M
of each
primer, 0.2 m
M
dNTP, the buffer supplied with Vent DNA
polymerase (BioLab) and 1.0 U of Vent DNA polymerase.
The thermal profile was: denaturation at 94 °C, 3 min; then
94 °C, 1 min; 54 °C, 1 min; 72 °C, 3 min for 5 cycles;
94 °C, 20 s; 58 °C, 40 s; 72 °C,3minplus10sforeach
following cycle for 25–28 cycles. The amplified DNA
Ó FEBS 2004 Structure of the mistletoe lectin genes (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) 2351
fragments were purified from agarose gel (GFX PCR DNA
and Gel Band Purification Kit, USB) and cloned into
pGEM7zf(+) or pGEM3zf(+) vector (Promega).
DNA isolation and Southern blot analysis
Whole genomic DNA was isolated from young leaves
according to Murray & Thompson [24]. The DNA prepar-
ation was treated with RNase to remove any contaminating
RNA. Approximately 10 lg of DNA was digested with
restriction endonucleases and subjected to electrophoresis in
a 0.7% agarose gel. Southern transfer and hybridization were
performed using Zeta-Probe Blotting membranes (Bio-
Rad) according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.
The blots were probed with the
32
P-radiolabelled 1 kb SmaI–
PstI fragment of the ml2p clone. The fragment was labelled
using the ÔNick translation kitÕ (Amersham Biosciences).
Assessment of the quantitative ratio of the three
variants of

purified from the unincorporated labelled nucleotides by gel
filtration through Sephadex G-50 and concentrated by
ethanol precipitation. Equal amounts (0.3 lg) of the
fragment were digested with either SalIorPstI, or with
both restriction endonucleases. The labelled digests were
separated on 2% agarose gels and the bands corresponding
to the three variants of mlp genes were excised. The slices
were dissolved in 0.5 mL 2
M
HCl, scintillation fluid
Aquasol-2 (PerkinElmer) was added and the radioactivity
was measured in a scintillation counter. The quantitative
ratio of the amplification products of the three gene variants
in the amplified fragment was assessed by calculation of the
ratio of radioactivity of the corresponding bands.
Quantitative PCR
The quantity of mlp genes in mistletoe genomic DNA was
assessed by quantitative PCR generally according to
Diviacco et al. [25]. The competitor DNA was constructed
by subcloning the HindIII-SalI fragment from the ml3.1p
clone to the ml2p clone applying HindIII and AgeIsites.
Obtained plasmid DNA was linearized before using as
competitor template. The universal M1 and M2 primers
were used for amplification of a fixed amount of mistletoe
genomic DNA (200 ng) mixed with increasing amounts of
competitor DNA (500–10 000 molecules). PCR reactions
were set up in 20 lLusing0.25l
M
of each primer (half of
the M2 primer being

A-chains of MLp
The mlp gene sequences encoding A-chains were subcloned
into the pET-28b(+) vector (Novagen). The sequences were
amplified with primers introducing restriction endonuclease
recognition sites (for the subcloning that followed), trans-
lation stop codons and some nucleotide changes replacing
codons of low usage in E. coli. Sequences of the primers and
pET28b(+) vector sites used for the subcloning are
presented in Table 1. The ligated DNA was transformed
by electroporation into competent E. coli DH10 cells and
the positive transformants were selected by restriction
analysis of plasmid DNA minipreparations of five to six
clones. The entire A-chain-coding sequences of selected
positive clones were checked by DNA-sequencing. For
subsequent affinity purification, all the expression plasmids
encode the MLp A-chains fused with vector-encoded
His-tag peptide on the N-terminus.
Expression of A-chains in
E. coli
Recombinant plasmids were introduced into E. coli strain
BL21(DE3)pLysS (Novagen) by calcium chloride-medi-
ated transformation. Optimal growth and expression
conditions for the recombinant proteins were established.
Overnight culture (2 mL) was grown at 37 °CinLuria–
Bertani medium (LB) containing kanamicin (30 lgÆmL
)1
)
and chloramphenicol (34 lgÆmL
)1
). The next day, cells

dithiothreitol and run on 15% SDS/PAGE. Before electro-
phoresis, holotoxins MLI, MLII and MLIII [kindly provi-
ded by A. G. Tonevitsky (Institute of Transplantology and
Artificial Organs, Moscow, Russia)] were incubated with
dithiothreitol (50 m
M
)in20m
M
Tris, pH 8.0, 60 m
M
NaCl
at 37 °C for 30 min to reduce toxins. Proteins were
visualized with 0.1% Coomassie Blue R-350 in 10%
methanol (v/v)/10% acetic acid (v/v). For Western blots,
proteins were transferred to a Hybond-P membrane
(Amersham Biosciences) and the membranes were blocked
with 5.0% nonfat dry milk in TBS-T buffer (20 m
M
Tris/
HCl, 137 m
M
NaCl, pH 7.6, 0.1% Tween 20) overnight at
4 °C. The membranes were then incubated with MNA4
(2 lgÆmL
)1
)orTA7(2lgÆmL
)1
) monoclonal antibodies
(kindly provided by A. G. Tonevitsky, Institute of Trans-
plantology and Artificial Organs, Moscow, Russia) for 3 h

by the Roman numerals I, II, and III (MLI, MLII, MLIII)
and refer to different carbohydrate specificity and molecular
mass of each of the proteins. MLI is also called viscumin. The
full-size coding sequence of the mlI gene was cloned [15] and
designated rML. The same designation was used for the
protein encoded by this gene. The sequenced mistletoe toxic
lectin genes are designated as ml1p, ml2p and ml3p and the
respective encoded proteins as ML1p, ML2p and ML3p.
The letter ÔpÕ refers to the geographic origin of the plant
(Poltavskaya region of the Ukraine).
The geographic origin of the plant may be associated with
minor differences in the primary structure of the proteins.
The ml1p gene corresponds to MLI. As no structural data
for MLII and MLIII were available, ml2p and ml3p genes
were brought into correlation with MLII and MLIII by an
immunological approach (see below). The ml3.1p gene
encodes a protein that differs from ML3p by 14 amino acid
residues, but has common structural features with ML3p
that distinguish it from ML1p and ML2p. Therefore we
consider ml3.1p as a gene that encodes an isoform of the
protein encoded by ml3p.
Cloning of the sequences of
mlp
genes
Approximately 2 kbp products were obtained by PCR with
several pairs of specific primers complementary to 5¢-and
3¢-untranslated regions of 5¢-and3¢-RACE clones using
Table 1. Primers used for MLp A-chain coding sequence amplification and pET28b(+) vector sites used for the following subcloning. Restriction
endonuclease recognition sites (bold) and translation stop codons (underlined) introduced by primers are indicated.
MLp chain Primers

ML3p
A-chain
5¢-
GATATA
CATATG
TACCGTCGTATTAGCCTTCGTGTCACGGAT
-3¢
5¢-
CACAC
GAATTC
TTATTAAGAAGAAGAAGAACGGTCCCTGCATAC
-3¢
NdeI and
EcoRI
ML3.1p
A-chain
5¢-
GATATA
CATATG
TACGAGCGTCTTCGTCTTCGTGTTACGCATC
-3¢
5¢-
CACAC
GAATTC
TTATTAAGAAGAAGAAGAACGGTCCCTGCATAC
-3¢
NdeI and
EcoRI
Ó FEBS 2004 Structure of the mistletoe lectin genes (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) 2353
genomic DNA or cDNA as a template. The PCR products

for the three variants. ML1p have the highest percentage of
identity (similarity) to rML: 98(99%), the similarity value
additionally includes similar amino acid positions so that it
is higher then that of identity. ML2p, ML3p and ML3.1p
are identical (similar) to rML by 88(91%), 78(87%) and
77(86%), respectively.
A-chains
The A-chain of the translation products of three mlp gene
variants, like the rML A-chain, consists of 254 amino acids.
The ML1p, ML2p and ML3p A-chains are identical
(similar) to the rML A-chain by 98(99%), 91(94%) and
83(90%), respectively.
Sequence analysis suggests that the A-chains are hetero-
geneous in the number of potential N-glycosylation sites
having either none (ML2p) or one site (ML1p, ML3p,
ML3.1p (Figs 1 and 2).
B-chains
The ML1p and ML2p B-chains, like the rML B-chain,
are 263 amino acids in length and the ML3p B-chain is 266
amino acids in length owing to the insertion of RGT(128-
130). The ML1p, ML2p and ML3p B-chains are identical
(similar) to the rML B-chain by 98(98%), 86(90%) and
71(82%), respectively.
The MLp B-chains have different patterns of potential
N-glycosylation sites (Figs 1 and 2). The ML1p B-chain has
thesamesitesasrML.TheML2pB-chainhasthree
potential N-glycosylation sites, two of which are homolog-
ous to that of ML1p, while the ML3p B-chain has three
sites which are homologous to that of ML2p. The ML3.1p
B-chain has one site.

is also conserved in all MLp variants except ML3.1p, which
has the substitution of Arg166fiVal.
The B-chains of ML1p, ML2p and ML3p have 63(75%),
65(77%)and55(70%)ofidentity(similarity)tothericin
B-chain, respectively.
The residues forming the sugar-binding sites in the ricin
B-chain are generally conserved in the structure of the
MLp B-chains: Asp23, Gln36, Trp38, Asn47, Gln48 of the
MLp B-chains (with one exception for ML2p) correspond
to Asp22, Gln35, Tyr37, Asn46 and Gln47 of the ricin
B-chain in the first sugar-binding site. Asp235 (238 for
ML3p), Ile247 (250 for ML3p), Tyr249, Asn256 (259 for
ML3p), Gln257 (260 for ML3p) of the MLp B-chains (with
one exception for ML3p) correspond to Asp234, Ile246,
Tyr248, Asn255 and Gln256 of the ricin B-chain in the
second sugar binding site [28]. The exceptions are the
replacement of Trp38 fi Ser in the ML2p B-chain and
Tyr252 fi Phe in the ML3p B-chain (Fig. 2).
The highly conserved amino acid residues forming the
hydrophobic core of the ricin B-chain domains [28] are fully
conserved in the MLp B-chains, reflecting the similarity of
the tertiary structure of type 2 RIPs (Fig. 2). Thus, positions
corresponding to the ricin B-chain Trp49, 90, 131, 173, 216,
258 and Ile57, 98, 181, 223 are occupied by Trp and Ile,
respectively, in the MLp B-chains. The ricin B-chain Val21,
Leu46, 117, 152, 191, 233 may be replaced in the MLp
B-chains by related Leu (Leu22 of the ML3p B-chain
corresponding to the ricin B-chain Val21), Ile (Ile118 of the
ML3p B-chain corresponding to the ricin B-chain Leu117)
or Met (Met153 of the ML1p and ML2p B-chains and

default setup [44].
Ó FEBS 2004 Structure of the mistletoe lectin genes (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) 2355
Thus, specific restriction fragments used for estimation of
the ratio were labelled at a single end. The quantitative ratio
of amplification products of three mlp gene variants was
calculated as the ratio of radioactivity of the corresponding
restriction fragments.
Such estimations will be correct if the genomic DNA and
mRNA contain no ml gene variants with sequences that are
not fully complementary to the primers used. Such variants
will amplify at a lower efficiency. To correct partly for such
a possibility, a lowered annealing temperature was used in
the first cycles of amplification. Presence of gene variants
with different restriction maps would produce additional
fragments, or the amplification product would not be cut.
As a whole, the pattern of fragments formed by cutting
the amplification product was similar in genomic DNA and
cDNA. Restriction fragments corresponding to all three mlp
gene variants can be seen in Fig. 3B. However, their
amounts were quite different in genomic DNA and cDNA.
In genomic DNA, three mlp gene variants are present in
the ratio 1.5 : 1 : 4 for ml1p, ml2p and ml3p, respectively.
Fig. 3. Quantitative ratio assessment for the three mlp gene variants in mistletoe genomic DNA and their transcripts in mRNA. (A) Restriction maps of
the mlp gene variants in the region amplified with the universal M1 and M2 primers. Positions of the primers are marked by arrows. The SalIand
PstI restriction endonuclease digests of the PCR product, amplified with M1 and M2 primers and mistletoe genomic DNA or cDNA as template,
were used for the ratio assessment. PstI cuts only the M1-M2 amplification product of ml1p variants giving 169 and 246 bp fragments. SalI cuts the
amplification product of ml2p, giving 66, 121 and 243 bp fragments, and the amlpification product of ml3p and ml3.1p, giving 50 and 365 bp
fragments. The 246 bp PstI restriction fragment, 243 bp and 365 bp SalI restriction fragments were used for the ratio assessment. (B) Equal
amounts of the
33

corresponding to 39–41 bases upstream from the initiator
AUG codon (data not shown). This could mean that there is
a unique transcription start site characteristic for each gene
variant or mlp genes are able to use more than a single
transcription start site.
Sizing of the family of toxic lectin genes in mistletoe
Assuming that there is a single copy of the ml2p gene per
haploid genome, then it follows from the ratio of three gene
variants that the size of the gene family makes up 6–7 genes
(1,5 : 1 : 4 then 1/2 +1 + 4 ¼ 6/7).
Attempts to estimate the size of the mistletoe lectin gene
family using genome Southern blot analysis did not give
informative results. Only restriction enzymes that did not
cut any of the obtained mlp gene variants in the region
homologous to the probe were used for the analysis.
Therefore, it may be expected that the number of hybrid-
izing fragments in the digests represents approximately the
sizeofthegenefamily.TheBglII, EcoRI (and also XbaI,
NcoI, data not shown) digests gave two hybridizing
fragments, one of which (the smaller) was represented by
a more intensive band (Fig. 4). At the same time, the AflII,
NsiI(andBclI, data not shown) digests gave a very similar
pattern of five bands, one of which was also more intensive
than the others. Thus, the different intensity of the bands
may be the result of a different copy number of the genes in
the hybridizing fragments. If so, the number of the bands do
not represent the family size. Thus, the mlp gene family size
may be more than five genes, confirming the value obtained
based on the quantitative ratio of the three mlp gene
variants.

were subcloned into the pET-28b(+) expression vector and
expressed in E. coli host strain BL21(DE3)pLysS. The
major part of the recombinant A-chains appeared in
insoluble cytoplasmic fraction but significant amounts were
found as soluble material. The soluble recombinant
A-chains were purified to homogeneity by a single round
of affinity chromatography applying the His-tag sequences.
On Coomassie Blue R-350-stained SDS/polyacrylamide
gels, the recombinant ML1p and ML2p A-chains could be
seen as a single band  30 kDa. The recombinant ML3p
and ML3.1p A-chain preparations always gave an addi-
tional band of  60 kDa (which may be seen on Western
immunoblots with TA7 monoclonal antibody, see below) as
if a dimerization of the chains takes place. The additional
band also appeared when the ML1p and ML2p recombin-
ant A-chain preparations have been stored for a while. The
identity of the bands was confirmed by Western blot
analysis. The yield of recombinant MLp A-chains was 6,
4.4, 0.35 and 0.3 mg per litre of culture for ML1p, ML2p,
Fig. 4. Estimation of the size of the mistletoe lectin gene family. Sam-
ples (10 lg) of high-molecular mass mistletoe genomic DNA were
digested with either BglII, NsiI, AflII or EcoRI and the resulting
fragments were separated by electrophoresis on a 0.7% agarose gel and
Southern-blotted onto a nylon membrane. The membrane was probed
with a radiolabelled SmaI–PstIfragmentofml2pcloneandwashed
under low stringency conditions. Positions of the DNA size markers
are shown by arrows.
Ó FEBS 2004 Structure of the mistletoe lectin genes (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) 2357
ML3p and ML3.1p A-chains, respectively. The activity of
the four recombinant A-chains was assessed by their

MLp A-chains
Western blot analysis was performed in order to correlate
the ml2p and ml3p genes with MLII and MLIII. Two
monoclonal antibodies (MNA4 and TA7) with differential
specificity against MLI, MLII and MLIII were used. The
monoclonal antibody TA7 interacts with A-chains of MLI,
MLII and MLIII [31]. MNA4 possesses the specificity to
MLI and MLII A-chains and reacts weakly with MLIII
A-chain [32]. Western blot analysis has shown that MNA4
efficiently binds to ML1p and ML2p A-chains and reacts
poorly with the ML3p A-chain (Fig. 6). Binding of the
recombinant MLp A-chains with TA7 was detected in all
samples. Interaction of the native A-chains with TA7 and
MNA4 in comparison with recombinant A-chains showed
the same binding.
Discussion
The present work reports the cloning and characterization
of three genes from mistletoe that encode toxic lectins that
are related to ricin. We were unable to obtain the clones by
screening genomic and cDNA libraries and we have
therefore used a PCR approach instead.
Three toxic lectins, MLI, MLII and MLIII, differing in
sugar specificity are isolated from mistletoe by affinity
chromatography [14]. Based on the amino acid sequence
of MLI, cloning of full-length coding sequences of
mistletoe lectin genes has revealed three variants. One of
the genes, ml1p, obviously corresponds to MLI whose
structure is known at the protein and nucleotide level.
Other two genes, ml2p and ml3p encode proteins mark-
edly differing from that of ml1p: the ML2p and ML3p

The protein structure of MLII and MLIII is not known
to date but they can be identified by sugar specificity and by
immunological methods. The last approach has been used
here to help reveal the relationship of ML2p and ML3p to
MLII and MLIII. The ML1p, ML2p, ML3p and ML3.1p
A-chains were expressed in E. coli in soluble and biologic-
ally active form. The recombinant ML3p A-chain was
recognized by the monoclonal antibody, TA7, which is
specific for all the MLI, MLII and MLIII A-chains [31] and
was not recognized by the specific for the MLI and MLII
A-chains monoclonal antibody MNA4 [32]. The data
suggest that ML3p corresponds to MLIII and ML2p to
MLII. Further evidence for the correspondence would be
the sugar specificity of ML2p and ML3p.
Like other type 2 RIPs, the mistletoe toxic lectins are
synthesized in the form of a single chain precursor. The
N-terminal leader sequence directs the toxic lectin precursor
to the endoplasmic reticulum, where it is split off [34] and
the linker peptide (reported to contain a signal for toxin
transport into vacuoles) is then excised [35,36]. The overall
sequence homology of the MLp linker peptide is low except
for the central region containing the sequence LVIRPV
which is of high homology to ricin and may reflect the
biological role of the sequence (Fig. 2).
The sequences of the catalytic A-chain of the MLp
toxins were found to differ. However, the amino acids
forming the catalytically active center of the A-chains of
the MLp toxins are fully conserved and retained in
corresponding positions, as in the A-chain of ricin [27] and
MLI [16,17,37], but with one exception, the Val166 fi Ala

with approximately equal affinity [14]. The comparison of
the sequences of ML2p, ML3p and ML3.1p with the
sequence of ricin also revealed a difference in the residues
forming the carbohydrate binding site. Thus, the conserved
residue Trp38 in the first site, corresponding to Trp37 in
ricin, is replaced by Ser. Such a substitution may result in a
marked lowering in affinity for Gal in ML2p, as it was
shown by site-directed mutagenesis for ricin [40]. The
introduced mutation of Trp37 fi Ser noticeably decreased
the efficiency of its binding to Gal. In the second binding site
of the ML3p and ML3.1p B-subunits, the replacement of
the conserved Tyr252 fi Phe, corresponding to Tyr248 in
ricin, is observed. A similar conversion is present in the
structure of the second carbohydrate-binding site of SNAV
[type 2 RIP from bark of elderberry (Sambucus nigra)],
having a 20-fold higher affinity for GalNAc when compared
with Gal [41]. The substitutions of amino acid residues
which are responsible for carbohydrate binding may change
the sugar-binding specificity of ML2p and ML3p compared
to MLI. The different lectin specificity of MLI, MLII and
MLIII is probably the result of different structures of the
carbohydrate-binding sites of these toxic lectins.
Formation of gene families is a characteristic feature of
many known RIPs [2]. Thus, although the extent of
homology in ricin and ricinus hemagglutinin is very high
[42], they are encoded by different genes. The ricin-like gene
family is probably comprises about eight members [43].
Different genes appear to encode the mistletoe toxic lectins.
As it was estimated using the quantitative ratio of the three
mlp gene variants in genomic DNA and Southern blot

Ó FEBS 2004 Structure of the mistletoe lectin genes (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) 2359
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Supplementary material
The following material is available from http://www.
blackwellpublishing.com/products/journals/suppmat/EJB/
EJB4153/EJB4153sm.htm
Fig. S1. Mapping of the transcription start sites in the
mistletoe lectin genes by primer extension analysis.
Fig. S2. Sequencing strategy.
2360 A. G. Kourmanova et al. (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) Ó FEBS 2004