Effect of irradiation and heat on the agglutination and mitogenic capacity of phytohemagglutinins

: The authors studied the effect of ionizing radiation on hemaglutinating and mitogenic activity of phytohemaglutinis (PHA) in solution. 10 Krad (electron beam) are needed for the destruction of 50% of the aglutinating capacity. The mitogenic effect is more resistent to irradiation (70 Krad for 50% inactivation) maybe because both effects are due to different molecules. Changes were also followed by electrophoresis in polyacrylamida. The resistence to irradiation showed to be exponential function of the concentration of PHA in solution.