Ricinine (3-cyano-4-methoxy-N-methyl-2-pyridone) is a urinary biomarker that can be measured to confirm human exposure to castor bean products such as ricin. Because many consumer products contain castor oil, another castor bean product, ricinine may be detectable in the general population. The following study characterized urinary ricinine concentrations from 989 individuals who were presumed ...

The lima bean lectin recognizes terminal alpha-D-GalNAc groups and agglutinates human type A erythrocytes. We have cloned a portion of the gene encoding the alpha subunit of the lima bean lectin. The clone was obtained using the polymerase chain reaction and verified from a genomic clone encoding the mature protein of 253 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence has significant overall homo...

Reversed micelles were used to extract lectin from red kidney beans and factors affecting reverse micellar systems (pH value, ionic strength and extraction time) were studied. The optimal conditions were extraction at pH 4-6, back extraction at pH 9-11, ion strength at 0.15 M NaCl, extraction for 4-6 minutes and back extraction for 8 minutes. The reverse micellar system was compared with tradit...

The amino acid sequences of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) and castor (Ricinus communis L.) cytochrome c were determined by using 1.5mumol of protein from each species. Both molecules consist of a single chain of 111 amino acid residues and are homologous with other mitochondrial cytochrome c molecules. Both have an N-acetylated ;tail' of eight amino acids and two in-N-trimethyl-lysine residues, a...

ricin, the toxic lectin extracted from the castor bean plant (ricinus communis), consists of an a chain (rta) and a b chain (rtb). anti-a chain abs and anti-b chain abs can neutralize toxins in vivo and in vitro via blocking the binding of the toxin to the cell. also, rtb protein is able to serve as an antigen deliver to the mucosal immune system and act as an immunoadjuant. here, the genomic d...

Castor (Ricinus communis L.) is a fast growing plant of marginal and moderately saline land widely spread throughout tropical regions. It is cultivated at arid coastal sandy belt and inland waste land of Pakistan for obtaining oil from its seeds, which being of medicinal importance is an economical commodity. Facing a great shortage of mineral diesel, scientists are nowadays actively working fo...

Ribulose 1,5-diphosphate carboxylase was detected in extracts of germinating castor bean (Ricinus communis var. Hale) endosperms. This is the first report of this enzyme in a nonphotosynthetic (no chlorophyll) plant tissue. Radioactive 3-phosphoglyceric acid has been identified as the principle product resulting from the enzymatic condensation of (14)C-bicarbonate and ribulose-1,5-diP in endosp...

Plant-specific GRAS transcription factors play important roles in regulating growth, development, and stress responses. Castor beans (Ricinus communis) are important non-edible oilseed plants, cultivated worldwide for its seed oils and its adaptability to growth conditions. In this study, we identified and characterized a total of 48 GRAS genes based on the castor bean genome. Combined with phy...

We investigated the effect of feeding extracts of four different legumes (red kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), peanut (Arachis hypogaea), soyabean (Glycine max) and pea (Pisum sativum) on the specific immune response against a food protein. Mice were fed ovomucoid and the specific immune response was evaluated. Ovomucoid fed alone resulted in oral tolerance induction measured as both a reduced...

Casbene is a macrocyclic diterpene hydrocarbon that is produced in young castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) seedlings after they are exposed to Rhizopus stolonifer or other fungi. The activities of enzymes that participate in casbene biosynthesis were measured in cell-free extracts of 67-hour castor bean seedlings (a) that had been exposed to R. stolonifer spores 18 hours prior to the preparatio...