IAA is present in seeds during germination as a result of the
breakdown of its conjugated forms with sugars, amino acids and
peptides [26]. Lectins are abundant in seeds, especially in the
protein bodies of cotiledonary cells, although, like ConA, they may
also be present in the cytoplasm [60]. Studies of germination in
some legume seeds demonstrated that the lectin content increases
during germination and early seedling stages [61,62]. Taking these
data into account, as well as the facts described in the previous
paragraph, we hypothesize that the ability of ConM to interact with
IAA may be a strategy to render the phytohormone unavailable to
the cell to protect radicles from its inhibitory activity. Thus, this
new physiological role proposed for legume lectins might be a
novel mechanism, in addition to the destruction and formation of
new complexes, by which IAA levels can be decreased in the later
stages of seed germination [63,64].