Editing Lectin (section)

==History==
Long before a deeper understanding of their numerous biological functions, the plant lectins, also known as [[phytohemagglutinins]], were noted for their particularly high specificity for foreign [[glycoconjugate]]s (e.g., those of [[fungi]] and animals)<ref>{{cite book |author=Els. J. M. Van Damme |author2=Willy J. Peumans |author3=llArpad Pusztai |author4=Susan Bardocz |title=Handbook of Plant Lectins: Properties and Biomedical Applications |pages=7–8 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |date=March 30, 1998 |isbn=978-0-471-96445-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qfkkXIcEO4YC&q=lectin+binding+monosaccharides&pg=PA7 |access-date=18 April 2013}}</ref> and used in biomedicine for blood cell testing and in biochemistry for [[fractionation]].{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}

Although they were first discovered more than 100 years ago in plants, now lectins are known to be present throughout nature. The earliest description of a lectin is believed to have been given by [[Peter Hermann Stillmark]] in his doctoral thesis presented in 1888 to the [[University of Dorpat]]. Stillmark isolated ricin, an extremely toxic hemagglutinin, from seeds of the castor plant (''[[Ricinus communis]]''). 

The first lectin to be purified on a large scale and available on a commercial basis was [[concanavalin A]], which is now the most-used lectin for characterization and purification of sugar-containing molecules and cellular structures.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Aksakal |first1=R. |last2=Mertens |first2=C. |last3=Soete |first3=M. |last4=Badi |first4=N. |last5=Du Prez |first5=F. |title=Applications of Discrete Synthetic Macromolecules in Life and Materials Science: Recent and Future Trends |journal=Advanced Science |year=2021 |volume=2021 |issue=2004038 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.1002/advs.202004038 |pmid=33747749 |pmc=7967060 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The [[legume lectin]]s are probably the most well-studied lectins.