Abstract
Lectins show antiviral activity as well. The growing resistance of microorganisms to convectional antimicrobial agents is a source of concern to clinical microbiologists all over the world. As a result, efforts are being made to develop antimicrobial agents from local sources for better chemotherapeutic effects. A novel lectin containing protein fractions (AD1 and MP1) are isolated from widespread commercially available edible plants Artemisia dracunculus and Mentha pulegium. The fractions had special agglutinating activity with rabbit trypsin-treated erythrocytes at minimum concentrations of 0.05 mg/ml and 0.017 mg/ml respectively. Furthermore, lectin activity of isolated fractions was confirmed by the inhibition of hemagglutination activities with carbohydrates D-galactose (in the case of Artemisia dracunculus) and Dtrehalose dehydrate (in the case of Mentha pulegium) at minimum concentrations of 0.78 mM and 25 mM respectively. Due to the carbohydrate specificity, lectin containing fraction from Mentha pulegium inhibits growth and development of Actinomyces griseus and Streptomyces albogriseolus subsp. Aragviensis. Many anti-inflammatory medications currently prescribed are of plant origin. So, the biggest challenge is to move from demonstrating the effectiveness of plant extracts to identifying molecules that have the desired effect. Soluble galactosespecific lectin fraction from Artemisia dracunculus has no effect on growth and development of Actinomicetes, while soluble lectin fraction with trehalose binding specificity inhibits growth and development of Actinomyces griseus, and Streptomyces albogriseolus subsp. Aragviensis, but no action was detected in the case of Nocardiopsis dessonvillei. Based on the data only Mentha pulegium soluble lectin influence on spore viability has been studied.