The immune role of C-type lectins in molluscs

The phylum Mollusca is one of the largest and most important group in the animal kingdom. Recently, interest in molluscan immunity has increased due to their importance in worldwide aquaculture, their role in aquatic environmental science and their phylogenetic position, and a great number of immune molecules have been identified and characterized from molluscs. C-type lectins are a superfamily of diverse proteins with one or more carbohydrate recognition domains (CRDs) of ~130 amino acid residues. They recognize and bind to terminal sugars on glycoproteins and glycolipids and function in non-self recognition and clearance of invaders. This chapter provides a short review of C-type lectins in molluscs, including their structure, function and possible use in science and technology.