Arcelin in wild bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) seeds: sequence of arcelin 6 shows it is a member of the arcelins 1 and 2 subfamily

Arcelins are lectin-related proteins detected only in wild beans collected in Mexico and their presence has been related to resistance against the bean weevils. Six arcelin variants have been described and the gene sequence of four of them was determined. We have isolated and sequenced a cDNA clone encoding arcelin 6. Sequence data indicated that this protein is closely related to arcelin 1 and arcelin 2. The cluster dendrogram produced with the multiple alignment of the cDNA clones coding for arcelins showed that arcelins can be divided into three subgroups: i) arcelin 1, arcelin 2 and arcelin 6, ii) arcelin 4 and iii) arcelin 5a and arcelin 5b. Biochemical data indicate that arcelin 3 belongs to the same subgroup of arcelin 4. Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA yielded similar restriction patterns among members of each subgroup, confirming the results obtained with the multiple alignment. Furthermore, the hybridisation patterns were specific for each arcelin variant. On the basis of these evidences, we suggest that the lectin locus could be a useful tool for understanding evolutionary relationships in common bean and in the genus Phaseolus.