Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 8, 2026
09:43
Identification of Plant Ice-binding Proteins Through Assessment of Ice-recrystallization Inhibition and Isolation Using Ice-affinity Purification
Published on: May 5, 2017
Antifreeze protein produced endogenously in winter rye leaves
1Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada.
Plant Physiology
|October 1, 1992
Summary
Cold-acclimated winter rye produces its own antifreeze protein. This protein, found in leaf apoplast, protects plants by altering ice crystal growth and lowering water
Area of Science:
- Plant Biology
- Biochemistry
- Cryobiology
Background:
- Winter rye (Secale cereale L.) exhibits remarkable frost tolerance after cold acclimation.
- Extracellular ice formation is a critical factor influencing plant survival at freezing temperatures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the presence and function of endogenous antifreeze proteins in cold-acclimated winter rye.
- To characterize the properties of the identified antifreeze protein.
Main Methods:
- Cold acclimation of winter rye plants.
- Extraction of proteins from the apoplast of winter rye leaves.
- Partial purification and characterization of the extracted protein.
- Assay of ice-binding and ice-nucleating activity.
Main Results:
- Antifreeze protein was identified in the apoplast of cold-acclimated winter rye leaves.
- The purified protein demonstrated the ability to modify ice crystal morphology.
- The protein noncolligatively depressed the freezing point of water, confirming its antifreeze activity.
Conclusions:
- Cold-acclimated winter rye possesses endogenously produced antifreeze proteins.
- These proteins play a crucial role in protecting winter rye from freezing damage by regulating extracellular ice formation.
- The findings contribute to understanding plant cryoprotective mechanisms.
Related Concept Videos
02:22Introduction to Plant Diversity
From Water to Land
02:45Responses to Heat and Cold Stress
Every organism has an optimum temperature range within which healthy growth and physiological functioning can occur. At the ends of this range, there will be a minimum and maximum temperature that interrupt biological processes.
01:57Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss
Though evaporation from plant leaves drives transpiration, it also results in loss of water. Because water is critical for photosynthetic reactions and other cellular processes, evolutionary pressures on plants in different environments have driven the acquisition of adaptations that reduce water loss.