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| Jequirity | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Abrus precatorius L. |
Abrus precatorius, known commonly as Jequirity, Crab's Eye, Rosary Pea, 'John Crow' Bead, Precatory bean, Indian Licorice, Saga Tree or Giddee Giddee (Abrus precatorius), is a legume with long, pinnate-leafleted leaves. It is also known as Gunja in Sanskrit and some Indian languages. Their seeds are often used as beads and in percussion instruments. The seed contains the toxic poison abrin. The plant is native to Indonesia and grows in tropical and subtropical areas of the world where it has been introduced. It has a tendency to become weedy and invasive where it has been introduced.
Toxin
The toxin present in Abrus precatorius is a close relative to ricin called abrin. It is a dimer consisting of two protein subunits, termed A and B. The B chain facilitates abrin's entry into a cell by bonding to certain transport proteins on cell membranes, which then transport the toxin into the cell. Once inside the cell, the A chain prevents protein synthesis by inactivating the 26S subunit of the ribosome. One molecule of abrin will inactivate up to 1,500 ribosomes per second. Symptoms are identical to those of ricin, except abrin is more toxic by several orders of magnitude; the fatal dose of ricin is approximately 75 times greater than the fatal dose of abrin. Abrin can kill with a circulating amount of less than 3 μg (micrograms).
Uses
The seeds of Abrus precatorius are much valued in native jewelry for their bright coloration. The third of the bean with the hilum (attachment scar) is black, and the rest is bright red, suggesting a ladybug. Jewelry-making with jequirity seeds is dangerous, and there have been cases of death by a finger-prick while boring the seeds for beadwork. However, it has long been a symbol of love in China.
References
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- This page was last modified on 16 December 2008, at 00:01.
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