POPP the question: what do LEA proteins do?

Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are produced in maturing seeds and anhydrobiotic plants, animals and microorganisms, in which their expression correlates with desiccation tolerance. However, their function has remained obscure for 20 years. We argue that novel computational tools devised...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in plant science 2004, Vol.9 (1), p.13-17
Main Authors: Wise, Michael J, Tunnacliffe, Alan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino Acid Sequence
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Cell biochemistry
Cell physiology
Computational Biology
Consensus Sequence
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Molecular Sequence Data
Peptide Fragments - chemistry
Plant physiology and development
Plant Proteins - chemistry
Plant Proteins - physiology
Plants - embryology
Seeds - physiology
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Summary:Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are produced in maturing seeds and anhydrobiotic plants, animals and microorganisms, in which their expression correlates with desiccation tolerance. However, their function has remained obscure for 20 years. We argue that novel computational tools devised for non-globular proteins might now overcome this problem. Predictions arising from bioinformatics fit well with recent data on Group 3 proteins, which potentially form cytoskeletal filaments, and suggest experimentally testable functions for these and other LEA protein groups.
ISSN:1360-1385
1878-4372
DOI:10.1016/j.tplants.2003.10.012