TY - JOUR
T1 - LEAfing through literature
T2 - late embryogenesis abundant proteins coming of age - achievements and perspectives
AU - Hernández-Sánchez, Itzell E.
AU - Maruri-López, Israel
AU - Martinez-Martinez, Coral
AU - Janis, Brett
AU - Jiménez-Bremont, Juan Francisco
AU - Covarrubias, Alejandra A.
AU - Menze, Michael A.
AU - Graether, Steffen P.
AU - Thalhammer, Anja
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/11/2
Y1 - 2022/11/2
N2 - To deal with increasingly severe periods of dehydration related to global climate change, it becomes increasingly important to understand the complex strategies many organisms have developed to cope with dehydration and desiccation. While it is undisputed that late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins play a key role in the tolerance of plants and many anhydrobiotic organisms to water limitation, the molecular mechanisms are not well understood. In this review, we summarize current knowledge of the physiological roles of LEA proteins and discuss their potential molecular functions. As these are ultimately linked to conformational changes in the presence of binding partners, post-translational modifications, or water deprivation, we provide a detailed summary of current knowledge on the structure-function relationship of LEA proteins, including their disordered state in solution, coil to helix transitions, self-assembly, and their recently discovered ability to undergo liquid-liquid phase separation. We point out the promising potential of LEA proteins in biotechnological and agronomic applications, and summarize recent advances. We identify the most relevant open questions and discuss major challenges in establishing a solid understanding of how these intriguing molecules accomplish their tasks as cellular sentinels at the limits of surviving water scarcity.
AB - To deal with increasingly severe periods of dehydration related to global climate change, it becomes increasingly important to understand the complex strategies many organisms have developed to cope with dehydration and desiccation. While it is undisputed that late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins play a key role in the tolerance of plants and many anhydrobiotic organisms to water limitation, the molecular mechanisms are not well understood. In this review, we summarize current knowledge of the physiological roles of LEA proteins and discuss their potential molecular functions. As these are ultimately linked to conformational changes in the presence of binding partners, post-translational modifications, or water deprivation, we provide a detailed summary of current knowledge on the structure-function relationship of LEA proteins, including their disordered state in solution, coil to helix transitions, self-assembly, and their recently discovered ability to undergo liquid-liquid phase separation. We point out the promising potential of LEA proteins in biotechnological and agronomic applications, and summarize recent advances. We identify the most relevant open questions and discuss major challenges in establishing a solid understanding of how these intriguing molecules accomplish their tasks as cellular sentinels at the limits of surviving water scarcity.
KW - Abiotic stress tolerance
KW - anhydrobiosis
KW - dehydration
KW - desiccation
KW - intrinsically disordered protein
KW - LEA protein
KW - liquid-liquid phase separation
KW - post-translational modification
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85136921783&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/jxb/erac293
DO - 10.1093/jxb/erac293
M3 - Review article
C2 - 35793147
AN - SCOPUS:85136921783
SN - 0022-0957
VL - 73
SP - 6525
EP - 6546
JO - Journal of experimental botany
JF - Journal of experimental botany
IS - 19
ER -