Fungal lectins: structure, function and potential applications

Lectins are a widespread class of proteins implicated in many essential cellular and molecular recognition processes. They recognize carbohydrates in a non-catalytic, specific and reversible manner. Fungi, which include mushrooms, microfungi and yeasts, have attracted wide interest in recent years. They are indeed a promising source for novel lectins with unique specificity and potential for biomedical and biotechnological applications. Information on fungal lectins, particularly structural insight, is scarce compared to that on their plant and animal counterparts. This review therefore focuses on the structure, function, and exploitable properties of fungal lectins.