Heterologous expression of the lectin CmRlec from Cordyceps militaris (Cordycipitaceae, Ascomycota) in Escherichia coli

Abstract

Ascomycete lectins may play an important role in their life cycle. In this report, we mined a ricin B-type lectin, named CmRlec, from the Cordyceps militaris genome by homology search. Furthermore, we succeeded in the soluble expression of CmRlec using β-glucuronidase as a solubilization tag and demonstrated that this lectin is a novel chitin-recognizing lectin.

Keywords: Cordyceps militaris; heterologous expression; lectin; mushroom.