Binding of concanavalin A to the surface of unfertilized and fertilized ascidian eggs.

STUDIES with certain carbohydrate-binding proteins of plant origin (as concanavalin A and wheat germ agglutinin) have indicated that some surface properties of embryonic1,2 and of virally transformed cells3–6 are different from those of adult cells. The interpretation of the differences in terms of structural organization of the cell surface is, however, still controversial (see for example refs. 7 and 8).