New folds of plant lectins

Abstract Among the crystal structures of lectins determined recently, three — snowdrop lectin, jacalin and amaranthin — represent new lectin families. Their polypeptide folds share remarkably similar features and consist exclusively of β structure. Autonomously folded β-sheet subdomains, inter-related by a pseudothreefold symmetry, assembly to form β-prism or β-barrel structures which are stabilized by a hydrophobic core.