Humoral opsonin from the colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri as a member of the galectin family

The synthesis and secretion of the humoral opsonin from the colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri was studied by using specific polyclonal antibodies that recognise both of the bands obtained after SDS-PAGE of the purified lectin. The agglutinin was revealed on the surface of agglutinated yeast and red blood cells and in the cytoplasm of the phagocytes, either uniformly distributed or localised inside the cytoplasmic projections. A previous incubation of haemocytes with the agglutinin resulted in intense labelling of the surface that disappeared in the presence of D-galactose, whereas it was not affected by treatment with proteases. These results, together with the already published data, suggest that our molecule is a new member of the galectin family. Received: 16 July 1999 / Accepted: 7 February 2000