[Interactions between lectins and microorganisms. 1. Determination of the rate of agglutination by measurement of extinction: agglutination of yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae H155) by concanavalin A].

A simple photometric method for the determination of the agglutination rate of cells by lectins in a continuously stirred suspension is presented. Besides the agglutination rate the method allows the estimation of an average degree of agglutination, i.e. the number of cells per aggregate. The influence of the Con A-concentration, cell number, temperature, and pH on the agglutination rate of Saccharomyces cerevisiae H155 have been studied. The results are of good reproducibility and, therefore, the methods is suitable to describe interactions between cell-bound receptors and receptor-specific proteins, e.g. lectins and antibodies.