From a 2007 article:
Multiplicity of carbohydrate-binding sites in â-prism fold lectins:
occurrence and possible evolutionary implications
ALOK SHARMA, DIVYA CHANDRAN, DESH D SINGH and M VIJAYAN*
Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India
*Corresponding author (Fax, 91-80-23600683; Email, 
)
The biological roles of animal, bacterial and viral lectins are reasonably well understood. However, although thoroughly studied structurally and biochemically, the endogenous roles of plant lectins are yet to be fully elucidated. It is believed that they are involved in root–nodule symbiosis in legume plants and also in plant defence (Chrispeels and Raikhel 1991; Peumans and Van Damme 1995; Hirsch 1999;Navarro-Gochicoa et al 2003; Imberty et al 2004). The stereo-specifi c selectivity of plant lectins has been exploited in a wide variety of applications, such as purifi cation of glycoproteins, markers for cancer cells, antimicrobial agents and drug delivery (Lehr and Gabor 2004). Studies on plant lectins have also contributed substantially to the understanding of the structure and assembly of proteins and strategies for generating ligand specifi city (Vijayan and Chandra 1999; Delbaere et al 1993; Banerjee et al 1994; Rini 1995; Elgavish and Shaanan 1998; Jeyaprakash et al 2004; Jeyaprakash et al 2005).
Hope this helps explain why people would be studying lectins in daffodils…
Debbie in NC