The crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of a red marine alga lectin isolated from H. musciformis is reported.

HML, a lectin from the red marine alga Hypnea musciformis, defines a novel lectin family. Orthorhombic crystals of HML belonging to space group P212121 grew within three weeks at 293 K using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. A complete data set was collected at 2.4 Å resolution. HML is the first marine alga lectin to be crystallized.