Synergy between the small intrinsically disordered protein Hsp12 and trehalose sustain viability after desiccation

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Abstract

Anhydrobiotes are rare microbes, plants and animals that tolerate severe water loss. Understanding the molecular basis for their desiccation tolerance may provide novel insights into stress biology and critical tools for engineering drought-tolerant crops. Using the anhydrobiote, budding yeast, we show that trehalose and Hsp12, a small intrinsically disordered protein (sIDP) of the hydrophilin family, synergize to mitigate completely the inviability caused by the lethal stresses of desiccation. We show that these two molecules help to stabilize the activity and prevent aggregation of model proteins both in vivo and in vitro. We also identify a novel in vitro role for Hsp12 as a membrane remodeler, a protective feature not shared by another yeast hydrophilin, suggesting that sIDPs have distinct biological functions.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files.

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Skylar Xantus Kim

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Gamze Çamdere

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Xuchen Hu

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Douglas Koshland

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States

For correspondence
koshland@berkeley.edu

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-3742-6294
Hugo Tapia

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States

For correspondence
hugo.tapia@berkeley.edu

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-1901-2151

Funding

G Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation

Skylar Xantus Kim
Hugo Tapia

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

Gamze Çamdere

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

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This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.