Effect of an Intrinsically Disordered Plant Stress Protein on the Properties of Water.

ABSTRACT: Dehydrins are plant proteins that are able to protect plants from various forms of dehydrative stress such as drought, cold, and high salinity. Dehydrins can prevent enzymes from losing activity after freeze/thaw treatments. Previous studies had suggested that the dehydrins function by a molecular shield effect, essentially preventing a denatured enzyme from aggregating with another enzyme. Therefore, the larger the dehydrin, the larger the shield and theoretically the more effective the protection. Although this relationship holds for smaller dehydrins, it fails to explain why larger dehydrins are less efficient than would be predicted from their size. Using solvatochromic dyes to probe the solvent features of water, we first confirm that the dehydrins do not bind the dyes, which would in

SUBMITTER: Ferreira LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6224673 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature