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. 1991 Jul;96(3):993–996. doi: 10.1104/pp.96.3.993

α-Amylase Inhibitor, Not Phytohemagglutinin, Explains Resistance of Common Bean Seeds to Cowpea Weevil 1

Joseph E Huesing 1,2, Richard E Shade 1,2, Maarten J Chrispeels 1,2, Larry L Murdock 1,2
PMCID: PMC1080877  PMID: 16668287

Abstract

There are claims that phytohemagglutinin (PHA), the lectin of common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, is toxic when fed to the cowpea weevil, Callosobruchus maculatus, and that PHA serves as the chemical defense against this seed-feeding bruchid beetle (DH Janzen, HB Juster, IE Liener [1976] Science 192: 795-796; AMR Gatehouse, FM Dewey, J Dove, KA Fenton, A Pusztai [1984] J Sci Food Agric 35: 373-380). However, our studies indicate that neither PHA nor its isolectins have detrimental effects when fed to the cowpea weevil. To explain these contradictory results we characterized the commercial lectin source used by A. M. R. Gatehouse, F. M. Dewey, J. Dove, K. A. Fenton, A. Pusztai (1984, J Sci Food Agric 35: 373-380). We demonstrate here that the toxic effects of PHA to cowpea weevil are due to an α-amylase inhibitor contaminant in the commercial preparation.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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