Characteristics of the asparagine-linked oligosaccharide from honey-bee venom phospholipase A2. Evidence for the presence of terminal N-acetylglucosamine and fucose in an insect glycoprotein.

Eighty-eight % of phospholipase A2 from honey-bee (Apis mellifica) venom is glycosylated. Its single oligosaccharide exists in several structural variants, which represent consecutive stages of the "N-glycan processing pathway". The carbohydrate carries terminal fucosyl and N-acetyl-glucosaminyl residues. This is in contrast to earlier reports which suggest the lack of respective glycosyl-transferases in insects.