Plant protoplast agglutination by artificial carbohydrate antigens.

The existence of beta-lectins on protoplast surfaces is confirmed by the agglutination of protoplasts by those Yariv antigens that have sugar specificities which also interact with isolated beta-lectins. Agglutination by beta-maltosyl but not by beta-D-mannosyl Yariv antigens is used to identify some of the structural features required of the ligand for beta-lectin binding. Inhibition of agglutination by phenolic glycosides and the effect of protoplast fixation are also investigated.