DEHYDRINS - EMERGENCE OF A BIOCHEMICAL ROLE OF A FAMILY OF PLANT DEHYDRATION PROTEINS

A number of proteins have been identified that typically accumulate in plants in response to any environmental stimulus that has a dehydrati ve component or is temporally associated with dehydration. This includ es drought, low temperature, salinity and seed maturation. Among the i nduced proteins, dehydrins (late embryogenesis abundant [LEA] D-11 fam ily) have been the most commonly observed, yet we still have an incomp lete knowledge of their fundamental biochemical role in the cell. Curr ent research trends an changing this situation; immunolocalization and in vitro biochemical analyses are, through analogies to other more fu lly characterized proteins and molecules, shaping our understanding. I n brief, dehydrins may be structure stabilizers with detergent and cha perone-like properties and an array of nuclear and cytoplasmic targets . Recent progress on the mapping of dhn genes and the inheritance of f reezing tolerance in barley and other Triticeae species tentatively po ints to dehydrins as key components of dehydration tolerance.