The Enigmatic LEA Proteins and Other Hydrophilins.

BATTAGLIA M, OLVERA-CARRILLO Y, GARCIARRUBIO A, CAMPOS F, COVARRUBIAS AA.

PLANT PHYSIOLOGY.

AMER SOC PLANT BIOLOGISTS

Lugar: Vermont; Año: 2008 vol. 148 p. 6 - 24

0032-0889

Water limitation affects all types of organisms at some stage during their life cycle; therefore, many strategies have been selected through evolution to cope with water deficit, including changes in enzyme activities and in gene expression, among others. In plants, a group of very hydrophilic proteins, known as LATE EMBRYOGENESIS ABUNDANT (LEA) proteins, accumulate to high levels during the last stage of seed maturation (when acquisition of desiccation tolerance occurs in the embryo) and during water deficit in vegetative organs, suggesting a protective role during water limitation (Dure, 1993b; Bray, 1997; Garay-Arroyo et al., 2000; Hoekstra et al., 2001).Most LEA proteins are part of a more widespread group of proteins called hydrophilins.