Metallothioneins (MTs) are a group of small,Cys-rich, metal-binding proteins. Plant MTs are divided into two types based predominantly upon the arrangement of Cys residues: those only containing the Cys-Xaa-Cys (Xaa is an amino acid other than Cys)metal-binding motif (type 1) and those containing a combination of the Cys-Cys,Cys-Xaa-Cys and Cys-Xaa-Xaa-Cys motifs (type 2).Both type 1 and type 2 contain two Cys-rich MT-like amino- and carboxyl-terminal domains separated by a central region of about 40 residues which is devoid of Cys (Robinson et al.,1993).Here we report a type 2 MT from amaranth.rn