Rhizosecretion of a cisgenic lectin by genetic manipulation of Tepary bean plants (Phaseolus acutifolius)

•Amplification of Tepary bean transcripts allowed to elucidate one native lectin.•Modeling showed that the studied lectin is highly conserved with legume lectins.•Transformation of Tepary bean plants was achieved using Agrobacterium tumefaciens.•The genetic construction included a secretion signal peptide for rhizosecretion.•The product was a glycosylated lectin with conserved agglutination activity.