Precursors of ricin and Ricinus communis agglutinin

During synthesis in vivo the castor bean lectin precursors initially appear in the endoplasmic reticulum as a group of core glycosylated polypeptides of relative molecular mass 64 000–68 000. Pretreatment of intact castor bean endosperm tissue with tunicamycin partially inhibits the cotranslational core glycosylation step and results in the accumulation of a single sized unglycosylated precursor polypeptide of relative molecular mass 59 000. The glycosylated precursors in the endoplasmic reticulum were enzymically converted to the 59 000‐ M r from by incubation with endoglucosaminidase H. Intracellular transport of the glycosylated lectin precursors from the endoplasmic reticulum to a denser vesicle fraction was accompanied by modifications to the oligosaccharide moieties which conferred resistance to the action of endoglucosaminidase H. The post‐translational addition of fucose to the carbohydrate chain was identified as one of the oligosaccharide modification steps. Fucose addition was catalysed by a glycosyltransferase associated with a smooth‐surfaced membrane fraction which was distinct from the endoplasmic reticulum and which was tentatively identified as the Golgi apparatus. Glycosylation was not essential for intracellular transport of the lectin precursors: unglycosylated precursor synthesized in the presence of tunicamycin gave rise to unglycosylated lectin subunits in the protein bodies.