Plant low-molecular-mass heat-shock proteins: their relationship to the acquisition of thermotolerance in plants.
Among the heat-shock proteins (HSPs) induced in response to heat-shock (HS) in all organisms, the low-molecular-mass (LMM) HSPs are the most abundant and unique in plants. The HSP genes at the transcriptional and the translational levels have been well-characterized; however, relatively little is known about the physiological function of HSPs. We have been studying the biological role of plant LMM HSPs based on the suggestion by Minton, Karmin, Hahn and Minton ([1982] Proc. Natl. Acad. Aci. U.S.A. 79, 7107-711) that HSPs may act as heat-stable proteins to non-specifically stabilize other proteins which are highly susceptible to inactivation or denaturation by heat. For the future, LMM-HSP gene transfer into organisms that do not synthesize plant LMM HSPs would be a way of determining the function of LMM HSPs, and success could be of practical importance.
Yeh
K W
KW
Department of Botany, National Taiwan University, Taipei, R.O.C.
Jinn
T L
TL
Yeh
C H
CH
Chen
Y M
YM
Lin
C Y
CY
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013696:Temperature; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins