Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
6175
pubmed:dateCreated
1988-8-3
pubmed:abstractText
Certain bacteria promote the formation of ice in super-cooled water by means of ice nucleators which contain a unique protein associated with the cell membrane. Ice nucleators in general are believed to act by mimicking the structure of an ice crystal surface, thus imposing an ice-like arrangement on the water molecules in contact with the nucleating surface and lowering the energy necessary for the initiation of ice formation. Quantitative investigation of the bacterial ice-nucleating process has recently been made possible by the discovery of certain bacteria that shed stable membrane vesicles with ice nucleating activity. The opposite effect, inhibition of ice formation, has been described for a group of glycoproteins found in different fish and insect species. This group of substances, termed antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGPs), promotes the supercooling of water with no appreciable effect on the equilibrium freezing point or melting temperature. Substantial evidence now indicates that AFGPs act by binding to a growing ice crystal and slowing crystal growth. As the ice-nucleating protein surface is believed to have a structure similar to an embryonic ice crystal, AFGPs might be predicted to interact directly with a bacterial ice-nucleating site. We report here that AFGPs from the antarctic fish Dissostichus mawsoni inhibit the ice-nucleating activity of membrane vesicles from the bacterium Erwinia herbicola. The inhibition effect shows saturation at high concentration of AFGP and conforms to a simple binding reaction between the AFGP and the nucleation centre.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jun
pubmed:issn
0028-0836
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
23
pubmed:volume
333
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
782-3
pubmed:dateRevised
2008-11-21
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1988
pubmed:articleTitle
Inhibition of bacterial ice nucleators by fish antifreeze glycoproteins.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Granada, Spain.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.