Carbohydrate-Binding Activities of Agglutinins in Invertebrates from the Sea of Japan

In this study, activities and carbohydrate specificities of agglutinins in body fluids of invertebrates from waters of the Russian coast of the Sea of Japan were assessed. Samples from 30 animal species belonging to four phyla, seven classes, and the order Sipuncula (Annelida: Polychaeta, Sipuncula; Arthropoda: Thecostraca, Malacostraca; Mollusca: Bivalvia, Gastropoda; Echinodermata: Holothuroidea, Asteroidea) were analyzed. For samples of 12 species, a range of carbohydrate specificities was determined, some of which are characteristic of corresponding systematic groups, and the other are unique and have not previously been mentioned in the literature. In addition, for the studied representatives of four classes (Polychaeta, Thecostraca, Malacostraca, and Bivalvia) and the order Sipuncula, patterns of similarities and differences in the carbohydrate specificities of their agglutinins were identified. For example, the specificity to acidic and neutral carbohydrates of pathogen-associated molecular patterns was clearly pronounced for polychaetes and, to a lesser extent, for malacostracans. In the case of bivalves and barnacles, another most evident specificity was that to N-acetylated amines. Sipunculans, which are one of the least studied groups as regards the carbohydrate specificity of agglutinins, showed a unique pattern of specificity with the highest inhibitory effect to pectin.