Unlike Ulex europaeus and Lotus tetragonolobus lectins which prefer (α -1,2) linked fucose residues, Aleuria aurantia lectin binds preferentially to fucose linked (α -1,6) to N-acetylglucosamine or to fucose linked (α -1,3) to N-acetyllactosamine related structures. AAL also reversibly binds fucose attached to nucleic acids.